Strange Things
by Jazzilla
Summary: Jason is an escapee from Vault 101 trying to survive in the wastes and find his father. He makes many new "acquaintances" along the way, and finds himself being constantly saved by a stranger. Follows with the main quest of the game with some variations.
1. Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings

Another story of mine that i've been writing. Fallout 3, the Capital Wasteland, and all the characters (aside from my own) are property of Bethesda Softworks. The story mostly rvolves around my original lone wanderer character. I like the concept of the Mysterious Stranger in the world of Fallout, so i decided to try and make up my own story where he plays a big part. Well, hope you all enjoy. R&R please.

**Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings**

It had been about two weeks since I first stepped out of Vault 101 in to the Capital Wasteland. My first impressions of the wasteland were both good and bad. All I had on me was the Vault suit on my back, a 10 mm Pistol holstered in my belt, and a pathetic amount of ammo for said gun. I had managed to scrounge up some Stimpaks and a few other medical supplies in the ensuing chaos as I attempted to make my way out of the Vault. Really, though, I didn't have much to defend myself with.

Speaking of which, I really didn't have any idea exactly _what_ I was going to have to defend myself from. While I was in the Vault no one really mentioned the outside world, they just said that it was a bad place where nothing but bad things happen. I suppose that's only partly true…I've had plenty of bad things happen to me, granted, but I have had a few strands of luck while I've been out looking for my father.

Over the past couple of weeks I have managed to make some friends out here, and I've upgraded my arsenal a bit as to better defend myself with. The first hospitable person I happened upon lived in a house that actually wasn't too far away from the entrance of the Vault. In a place called Springvale, as my Pip Boy pointed out with its ever updating map system. Her name was Silver. She had shoulder length platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, and a nice figure. She was just a lone woman trying to make it on her own out in the harsh of the wastes. Apparently she was hiding from some guy named Moriarty; a no good sleazebag who ran a saloon in Megaton. She admitted that she used to be a prostitute who worked in his employ, but she got sick of it and ran off.

"He accused me of stealing some of his share as well; can you believe the nerve of that dickless bastard?" she part asked, part yelled at me. "I'm sorry sugar," her attitude had suddenly changed from angry, to a bit seductive, "I'm just so scared of him finding me…you'll protect me won't you? You look like the type of guy that would look after his girl…" she pressed her body against mine and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Promise to help me, and I'll make it worth your while." She said in a low, seductive voice. Now, I'm not known as being someone who turns down sexual favors in return for complete cooperation, so I gladly accepted her offer.

I stayed with her for about two days, during which time we must have gone at it at least a dozen times. Once I was certain that there was no immediate threat to her, however, I figured it was high time I returned to finding my father. She didn't seem all that sad to let me go, but she gave me a souvenir Nuka-Cola napkin with her lipstick pressed against it as a reminder of our time we spent together.

I came upon the settlement of Megaton later that day. Almost as soon as I had entered, a rather eccentric looking man approached me. He revealed himself to be "Mr. Burke". He wanted me to rig the bomb in the middle of town to explode, simply because his employer didn't like the view that Megaton offered. What a crock of shit. I made sure to alert Sherriff Simms of this lunatic's plans, and offered whatever help I could. I figured I was skilled enough with explosives (that's one thing that dad didn't know about in the Vault) that I could tinker around with the bomb and see if I could de-activate it.

Burke didn't like that, not one bit. One of the times when I was tinkering with the nuke, Burke showed up with some hired goons to try and frighten me off. Sherriff Simms and some local gun named Jericho stood by my side as I attempted to defuse the bomb. There was a pretty big shootout as I sat there and toyed with the many wires. Simms got Burke right in the chest, but not before Burke got him in the shoulder. Simms will be alright though, and I'm still not sure whether Burke was done in or not. That Jericho fella was something else though, I don't think I've ever heard so many f-bombs in my entire life. And the crazed look he had in his eye as he mowed down Burke's goons…hell, I just about pissed myself.

When the whole thing was over and the smoke and dust had cleared, no one could find Burke, only the bodies of his goons could be seen. I was successful in my attempt to defuse the bomb, and Simms offered me residence in Megaton, which I took gladly. I even got a nice discount from all of the stores there, and even a few "favors" from that lovely Moira Browne down at Craterside Supply, but that's a story for another day. I felt pretty proud of myself for my accomplishments, but soon found myself feeling rather down again when I remembered the real reason why I had left the Vault in the first place…finding my father.

So it wasn't long after that I set out on my quest once more, with the help and aid of everyone in Megaton. I tried to see if Jericho wanted to come with me. I admit, even though he scares me shitless, he's one hell of a marksman. I offered up a good sum of caps, but he just told me to, "Fuck off and come back when I wasn't acting like such a goody-goody." I took his rejection as best I could, then ventured back out in to the wastes.

So that's pretty much what's happened to lead up to where I am now. The only info I have about where I can find my father is from a terminal I hacked whilst residing in Megaton. Ironically, it belonged to the same guy who Silver had been so afraid of; Moriarty. He had kept logs of all his customers, and I just so happened to find my dad's name on the list. I quickly scrolled through the info that Moriarty had jotted down about him and downloaded it in to my Pip Boy. He wrote that my dad had mentioned something about Galaxy News Radio and also wrote that my dad wanted to talk to the man in charge there. So I geared up and took off.

Right now it's 6:38 in the evening, and I'm taking a rest near a collapsed bridge to keep out of sight. I've heard rumors about Raiders out in these parts, but I've yet to meet any. Hopefully my aim proves better than theirs, but we'll see. I took one last sip of a Nuka-Cola I had found, then packed up and headed out. I checked the map on my Pip Boy to see how much farther I had until I reached GNR.


	2. Chapter 2: Close Call

**Chapter 2: Close Call**

"Damn, still a good eight hours walk." I mumbled to myself. Well, if the info I downloaded leads me to my dad, it's worth it. It wasn't long after I had set out once again that I happened upon a grim sight. A group of seven or so bodies were strewn about atop a hill I had climbed over.

"My god…" I whispered as I placed my hand over my mouth. All of the people had been gunned down and had varying bullet wounds on their bodies, and I could tell that they had been robbed because all of their packs and bags were lying about as well, most of which were completely empty.

I quickened my pace, for fear had settled in to my heart…fear of Raiders patrolling the area. The sun had gone down by now, and the dark sky was lit up with luminescent lights, and the moon was crescent and didn't provide much light. I spotted an old, run down house off in the distance, and figured I'd better settle down for the night. Boy, what a stupid mistake that was. I crept up to the house and scanned it over to make sure that it didn't already have any residents living within. I found an old sign on the ground next to me. I picked it up and brushed the dirt off. It was hard to make out in the dark, but I'm sure it read: Kaelyn's Bed & Brea-. A piece of the sign was missing, but I know the last word said Breakfast.

The sound of loud laughter caused me to fall on my ass in surprise, and I lifted my Assault Rifle I had acquired to my front. Two men dressed in spiky leather armor came walking around the corner of the house.

"Heh, can you believe them wasters had all this loot on them?" one asked the other. "Yeah, I would've figured they had jack shit, but it turned out to be the exact opposite!" the two of them laughed together once again, then stopped about twenty or so feet to my left so they could light up.

I looked them over and saw that one was carrying a Hunting Rifle in his hands, and the other sported the same Assault Rifle that I was carrying. "So, these must be the raiders that attacked that poor caravan." I thought to myself. Maybe I could serve a little justice and avenge them. And, in the process of doing so, I could score some more ammo and medical supplies.

I crept a little closer, but stopped when I noticed three more raiders coming around my right flank. They hadn't noticed me yet, thank god, but they were getting too close for comfort. "Hey!" one shouted, "The boss wants everyone inside for a meetin'." He finished. "Ugh, the boss and his meetin's." one of them grumbled.

The five Raiders then proceeded to make their way back in to the house. I thought I was home free, but I lost my balance while I was kneeling and fell over again. Damn my clumsiness, damn it to hell.

One of the Raiders near the back of the group looked back and saw something lurking in the shadows, and that something was me.

"Well, well, well boys, lookie what we got here. We got us a snoop who should know to mind his own business." The five of them then ran over before I could get myself up and restrained me.

They took my gun and supplies from me and looked through their contents. "Not a bad bag of stuff you got here stranger. We'll just be takin' this for ourselves and get rid of you." one said.

Another of them pulled out a .32 Pistol and pressed it against my cheek, "You want it in the head, or in the heart?" he asked me in a sadistic tone.

It was in this instant that I was sure that I was a dead man. There was no hope of escape for me, no elaborate scheme that I could pull in order to save my own ass at the cost of my supplies. No sir, this should have been the end for me….but miraculously, it was not the end. Just as the sick son of a bitch was about to pull the trigger, everyone, including me, could hear footsteps drawing ever closer.

I couldn't see much of the person who had interrupted our little "group meeting". All I could make out was the shape of a Fedora atop his head, and a large trench coat that covered most of his body. "You shouldn't be here stranger, unless you want to suffer the same fate as this sorry fella here." the Raider who was holding the gun to my cheek threatened. The man brought up a lighter and lit himself a cigarette. The dim light emanating from the end of it just barely gleamed off his experienced eyes. Before anyone could even blink, the mysterious stranger fired off five rounds with amazing speed and precision.

All went deathly quiet, and one by one, each of the Raiders fell to their knees, then flat on their faces. Each had received a single shot to the head before they could even pull their guns up. "What the fuck is all that noise?" someone shouted from within the house. That's right! There was still the boss to deal with. As soon as the leader poked his head out of a window, another Magnum round was fired off by the stranger that hit right between the leader's eyes. He hit the ground with a loud thump, and I swear I even heard his neck snap on impact.

I slowly turned around to meet my guardian angel. He simply stood there with a .44 Magnum in his hand; smoke was still spewing out of the barrel. He opened his coat and placed his gun back in its holster, then took another puff of his cigarette.

"How can I ever repay you?" I managed to say through all my shock and fear.

But the only response I got was a cigarette flicked at my feet, and the stranger immediately vanishing in to the shadows. I dropped to the ground and placed a hand on my forehead, "Holy shit…" was all I could say. I don't doubt that it was lady luck herself that had sent this "Mysterious Stranger" to save my ass from certain death, but I couldn't help but wonder…who was he, and would I ever see him again? I didn't have much time to think on it. I quickly picked up my gun and supplies, then rummaged through the Raider's corpses and looted the house for supplies.


	3. Chapter 3: Trouble at GNR

**The reason this chapter is way longer than the others is basically because its an important scene and is very action oriented. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Trouble at GNR**

I wouldn't find any rest tonight, not here, not anywhere, so I thought it best to just continue on. I trekked on through the night, until I met up with a strange group of people just a few miles away from the GNR building. They were dressed in bulky, grayish colored armor, and at first glance, they looked rather intimidating. I would have thought them to be hostile if not for the fact that their leader wasn't wearing her helmet. I could tell that they had just finished fighting with something. A few of their soldiers were lying dead on the ground, and a few more were grievously injured.

Their leader was tending to one of the wounded when I approached. She had dirty blonde hair, chiseled facial features, and green eyes that showed her combat experience. She was actually rather feisty with me when she first saw me. She grabbed her weapon and pointed it right at my head when she saw me walking towards her.

"State your business in this area." She demanded of me.

"My name is Jason, and I'm looking for the Galaxy News Radio building." I replied.

She lowered her weapon and a smirk came across her face, "Well, good luck with that. We've been trying to get there ourselves, but this whole place is crawling with those damned Super Mutants." She explained.

"Super Mutants?" I inquired, I had never heard of such a thing before, not even while I was in Megaton.

She gave me a baffled look, "You're serious? You've never met a Super Mutant before? Just where the hell have you been living all your life?" she asked.

I was a little embarrassed at the fact that I didn't have much knowledge about what went on in the wastes, so I just told it how it was. "Well, up until about two and a half weeks ago, I was living inside a Vault. Vault 101, to be precise." I explained.

Everyone else that was around was surprised at what they had been told. "I didn't think any of the Vaults were still in working condition, let alone hospitable." One of the soldiers commented.

"So what brings you out to this godforsaken place?" the leader interrogated once again.

"I'm looking for my father, James. He unexpectedly left the Vault and I've been chasing after him ever since. A bit of info I got suggests that he headed to talk to the man in charge at GNR." I told them.

The woman slung her weapon over her shoulder and smiled, "Like I said kid, we're headed up there now. We've got reports of Super Mutants swarming the area, and if you want in to GNR, you're going to have to help us rid the area of them." She said.

I wasn't so sure, just the name of these things sounded menacing, but she was right, I had no choice but to help if it meant finding my dad. "Alright, I'll help you." I finally decided.

The woman placed a hand on her hip and her smile grew even wider, "Good to hear it friend. I trust you know how to use a gun?" she asked while looking at the Assault Rifle I had slung on my back.

I pulled the gun off the strap and brought it forward, "Of course I do." I lied. The fact was that I hadn't really used any weapon all that much since I'd been out here. There was the occasional Radroach or Bloatfly, but they didn't really pose much of a threat.

The woman stretched out her hand in friendship, "By the way, I'm Sentinel Lyons, Sarah Lyons if you care. The Brotherhood of Steel looks forward to fighting alongside you." was her welcome.

She then turned to the others, "Alright men, gear up and make ready. Let's show these ugly bastards who's boss!" she shouted, and all of the men and women cheered aloud.

"You're with me kid, let's move out!" she ordered, and everyone, including myself, followed in suit.

It wasn't long before I got my first taste of fighting against a Super Mutant. Mean bastards that'll take your head off as soon as look at you. They're about twice the size of a man, have yellow skin, and are muscular as hell. Despite all this though, they aren't very smart, and most of the grunts don't pose too much of a threat. The first group we happened upon was holed up inside a partly destroyed office building. We didn't even know they were there until one of the Brotherhood Initiates got his brains splattered against the wall.

"Ambush!" Sarah shouted, and immediately we all took cover.

I could already feel the adrenaline pumping through my system as bullets whizzed over my head. I peeked over the cement block I was hiding behind and fired off a few rounds. I couldn't help but shout in excitement as my bullets tore through one of the grunt's chest. I soon found myself advancing forward from cover to cover as the fight ensued. I spotted one of them above us on the second floor and let loose in to its filthy yellow skin.

I saw Sarah take down a few with her Laser Rifle, and one of them even turned in to a pile of ashes as the beam pierced its stomach. We only suffered two casualties and no injuries during that battle.

One of the other Brotherhood guys, Paladin Vargas I think his name was, caught one of the mutants trying to crawl away. He promptly pumped its head full of lead from his Mini-Gun. It seemed a bit overkill to me, but hey, these things would probably do the same to us.

"Nice shootin' kid!" Sarah complimented as we regrouped near a set of unopened steel doors. I was too in to the moment to really say anything in response though, so I just gave a nod.

We busted through the steel doors expecting more resistance, but were surprised to find that the Super Mutants in this area were already dead. We looked through the corpses to see if we couldn't find anything useful, when a strange feeling of familiarity came over me. I looked over the bodies and noticed that each mutant had received a single shot between the eyes, and none of their weapons had been fired.

"Could it have been…no, it couldn't…" I said to myself as I continued my investigation.

I suddenly realized that it was indeed the stranger from before when I found a single cigarette on the ground not far from one of the mutant's corpses. I bent down and picked it up off the ground; it was still warm. I started frantically looking around to see if I could find anything else.

Sarah noticed my frantic searching, "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, no need to worry about me." I said hysterically.

She just gave me a puzzling look, but let it go. "Alright men, these muties are dead, and that's all that matters. Let's move up!" she ordered, and with that, everyone followed behind her.

I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched as we ventured closer to our destination, but every time I glanced over my shoulder, I saw nothing. I finally shook the thought from my mind when we could hear the sound of gunfire up ahead.

"The plaza is just ahead. Vargas, you, Reddin, and the kid take the left flank and come out of that doorway over there. The other Paladins and I will take the right flank over here. On my mark, get ready to charge." She whispered to each of us.

We all took our positions and waited for Sarah's signal. "Now!" she shouted, and everyone ran through the doorways and caught the Super Mutants off guard. Bullets and lasers roared through the air as we did battle with them. Most were grunts, but there were a few tougher ones that wore thick, makeshift metal armor that made it harder to take them down. I shot at one of the armored ones that was heading towards Sarah and blew one of its knees out. Sarah saw it collapse next to her and disintegrated its head with her weapon.

"We've got a Mutie Master up there!" one of the Paladins shouted as an even bigger, well armored mutant that wielded what looked to be a giant Sledgehammer came in to view.

"You die now filthy humans!" it shouted as he knocked the wreckage of a nearby car away with its hammer. No matter how many times we shot the damn thing it kept trampling forward until it eventually reached Sarah's group and knocked two of the Paladins that were with her away with one fell swoop of its hammer. Sarah shot a few rounds in to its chest, but it simply laughed and backhanded her away.

"Sentinel Lyons!" Initiate Reddin shouted. She then ran foreword to aid her fallen commander. She yelled aloud as she pumped the Mutant Master full of lead, tearing through his head and shoulder. The brute staggered around, then fell on his back.

Smoke bellowed from Reddin's gun as she stood there in a calm and collected pose. "Ha! These Mutants didn't stand a chance against me!" she boasted. She then turned around and helped her injured superior to her feet.

"Nice work Reddin, I'd say you've earned your Knighthood." Sarah told her, and Reddin removed her helmet. I was surprised to see how young she was. She had to be at least 17, but she acted as if she was as old as the others. Her bright blue eyes lit up and she had a huge grin on her face when she was told she had been promoted.

"Thank you, sir! You won't regret your decision!" she said excitedly, then went over to tell Vargas, who seemed to be the one who looked after her, the good news.

Two Brotherhood of Steel soldiers descended the staircase that led up to the GNR building. "Knight Captain Colvin reporting, sir!" one of them men saluted to Sarah.

"At ease. Update me on the situation here Captain." She ordered.

"As you know we were ambushed by Super Mutants. They've been increasing their activity in this area lately, and they caught us off guard. We've got a few men still holed up inside GNR, and we weren't sure how much longer we were gonna last." He explained.

Sarah placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's alright Captain, the mutants have been eradicated for the moment. I'll have my father send out patrols to make sure the surrounding area is clear." She told him, and he thanked her.

The warm welcome was cut short however when a loud roar rang out across the night sky. "What was that?" Reddin questioned as she stepped forward to inspect an old bus wreckage.

The ground beneath us began to rumble increasingly with each passing second. "Reddin, look out!" I heard Vargas yell. The bus Reddin was standing near was suddenly knocked on its side, and just behind it stood the biggest Super Mutant I had seen yet.

It let loose a blood curdling roar which knocked Reddin to the ground. It then picked up the bus and tossed it at her.

"Reddin!" Vargas screamed as he reached out in vain. I saw the look of absolute dread on Reddin's face just before the front half of the bus landed on top of her.

Vargas screamed at the top of his lungs as he fired off his Mini-Gun in to the hulking behemoth. His attempt at avenging his fallen comrade was futile, though, because none of his shots seemed to make any apparent mark on the giant's skin. The beast was wielding a steel pipe with a fire hydrant connected to the tip of it, and slammed it down on Vargas, who rolled to the side to avoid the blow.

Captain Colvin, Sarah and I took cover behind a concrete fountain in the middle of the plaza. "Jesus Christ what the fuck is that thing?" Colvin shouted.

"It's a Super Mutant Behemoth. God damn it, I was hoping I would never meet one of these things." Sarah said as she fiddled with her gun.

We could hear it thrashing around behind us, and Paladin Vargas was still jumping around and shooting at it.

"Wait," Colvin started, "One of the knights who was killed in the raid was holding a prototype mini-nuke launcher…" he trailed off and looked over the top of the fountain. "There! If someone can get it, I'm sure we'll be able to take this thing down!" he explained.

Sarah grabbed him by the collar of his armor, "Are you mad? You want us to launch nukes at this thing? How do we know the explosion won't blow us all to kingdom come!" she shouted at him.

"It's been tested to great efficiency. The explosions are small enough not to cause massive damage, but yet still big enough to kill nearly anything it's aimed at!" he said.

Sarah let go of his collar and thought on it, "Alright." She said, then turned to me, "We'll distract the damn thing while you get your hands on that Mini-nuke Launcher." She told me, but I was still in complete shock at the size of that mutant.

"That's an order soldier!" she shouted, then both she and Colvin sprang to their feet and went out to assist Vargas in distracting the behemoth.

"Right." I whispered, then got up and headed over to where the dead Knight was lying. Colvin was right on the money, the Knight had the weapon he spoke of, the only problem was, I had no idea how to work it. I didn't want to end up killing Sarah and the others, but if I didn't figure it out fast, they would be dead soon anyways.

I found an ammo crate next to the weapon, and when I opened it up, I was greeted by the sight of two "mini-nukes" lying within. I pulled one out and loaded it on to what I thought to be the firing mechanism, which was a small plate that slid across a metal tray to literally launch the nuke outwards. I pulled the plate back to ready it for launch, then aimed it at the back of the behemoth.

"Well, here goes nothing." I said to myself, then pulled the trigger. I was instantly thrown back by the force with which the nuke left the metal tray, and I crossed my fingers as it headed straight for the behemoth's back.

I shielded my eyes as the nuke made contact, a bright white light erupted as the nuke exploded, and a small mushroom cloud was sent skyward. When the smoke and dust cleared, I realized that I hadn't hit the behemoth, but rather I hit one of the buildings we had just trekked through. It fell to the ground with a loud _BOOM_ and sent dust in to the surrounding area.

"Damn it, only one left…better make this count." I said to myself, and then loaded the last mini-nuke on to the weapon's tray.

I knelt down on the ground to brace myself against the force with which the nuke would leave the tray, took aim, and fired. This time I hit my mark, but I was still blown on to my back due to the fact that the behemoth was closer than the building I had hit before.

There was nothing left of the upper half of the giant brute when the smoke cleared. Its legs toppled to the ground, and bits and pieces of it continued to rain down from the sky for the next few moments.

I wiped the dust and grime from my face and sat myself back up.

"I've got to get me one of these!" I shouted as I looked over at the weapon I had just fired.

I jumped a bit when I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Sarah smiling back at me, holding her hand out to help me up. "Hell of a job you've done here, Jason." She said as she lifted me up.

"Hey, you didn't call me kid this time!' I had noticed.

"With the way you've handled yourself, I'd say you've earned a little respect." She said.

The happy moment was cut short when Sarah noticed Vargas kneeling next to the bus that had crushed Reddin. "She was so young…" he whispered as Sarah approached him.

"I stand by what I said before. Let it be known that Initiate Reddin earned her knighthood on this day, and let her name be written in to the records within our archives!" she said to try and comfort her ally.

She helped him to his feet and patted him on the back, "Thank you." was all he said to her.

Those of us who were still alive made our way up the steps to the front door of the GNR building. Sarah approached an intercom that was on the wall to the right of the door.

"Everything's clear out here, unlock the door and let us in." she ordered.

The door made a slight clicking noise, and they were thrust open. Two men clad in the same Brotherhood armor came rushing out, one of which wasn't wearing a helmet. The two Brotherhood members saluted Sarah, "Sir, good to see you're still alive." They said in unison.

Sarah waved her hand to them, "At ease men. I have an order for you. Take this young man to see Three Dog. He's looking for his father and believes that Three Dog has some information that can help him." She told them.

"Yes sir!" the one without the helmet replied.

As I was about to walk off with the Brotherhood member, I felt Sarah grab my arm. "Thank you Jason. You have no idea how much you helped us today, I am truly in your debt." she said calmly and gratefully.

My cheeks probably went a little red, but I didn't mind since the interior of GNR wasn't very well lit. "It's nothing. If you're ever in need again, feel free to call me. Here's my radio frequency if you need to reach me." I then told her what she needed to know, then turned to follow the Brotherhood member to the man I needed to see.


	4. Chapter 4: Three Dog, Muties, and Ghouls

**Chapter 4: Three Dog, Muties, and Ghouls oh my!**

"So, whats your name kid?" the man who was leading me asked.

"Names Jason." I replied.

"Im Sergeant Wilks, its nice to meet you." He said as he extended his hand to me. I gladly took the kind gesture and shook his hand as we walked up a flight of stairs.

When we reached the blue steel door at the top of the stairs, Wilks opened it for me, "The man you want to talk to is just in there. A word of caution though, hes a little out there, and he probably wont give you what you want unless you do him a favor. So be prepared for some ridiculous request alright?" he told me.

I simply nodded and thanked him, then walked through the door. As I stepped in to the room I could hear music playing in the background, and I could make out the feint sound of someone laughing nearby.

"And remember, dont feed the Yao Guai! Thanks for listening children. This is Three Dog, and Im here for you! And now, lets change the mood with some music!" I heard someone shouting from a room close to me.

I slid open the door to a room which had light emanating from it, and was greeted by the sight of a black man sitting at a desk with a microphone close to his mouth and headphones over his ears. He had short black hair which was mostly covered by a bandana, and he also wore large black shades that made it impossible to see his eyes. He had a short goatee and wore clothing that looked like it had once belonged to a biker. I assumed him to be this Three Dog everyone had been talking about.

He took the headphones off of his head and set them on the desk, then leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar. I cleared my throat to get his attention.

He spun around in his chair to face me, and he had a big grin on his face. "Well, what do we have here? They told me that someone was coming to see me, I just didnt expect them to send a kid." He then stood up and walked over to me, "Names Three Dog, lord and master of all I survey! And what, might I ask, has brought you here to my humble abode?" He asked me.

"My name is Jason, and I was told that you might have some information regarding the whereabouts of my father." I told him.

He took a puff of his cigar, "I might have the information you seek, that is if you tell me his name and maybe even what he looks like." He pointed out.

"Oh, umm, his name is James. Hes about 44 years old, has short, gray hair, blue eyes, a shaggy looking beard. Wears a blue jumpsuit with the number 101 on the back." I told him every detail possible.

Three Dog stroked his beard for a moment, "Ah yes, I remember now. James was a cool cat, came to me seeking information about something called Project Purity or something. Asked me if I wanted to help him out. He started talking a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo that I honestly couldnt follow." He explained.

"Please, if you know anything that can help me find my dad, I would greatly appreciate it!" I begged.

"Whoa, calm down kid. I know where your dad is..." he then trailed off.

This is what I was hoping to avoid. As Sergeant Wilks had said, Three Dog was probably contemplating some task that he could put me to in return for the information.

"Tell you what kid. You do me one tiny little favor and Ill tell you where your dad is. You scratch my back, and Ill scratch yours." He said.

I let loose a great sigh and shook my head, "Fine, just tell me what you want me to do so I can get the info I need." I replied.

Three Dog grinned once again and rubbed his hands together. "Well alright kid, heres what I need you to do for me. GNR, its my baby. I take care of it, I nurture it, I feed it. Its basically everything to me. These Brotherhood guys, theyre great, they help me fight the good fight. And now its time for you to assist us in fighting this fight." He started.

He went back to his chair and sat down, then took yet another puff of his cigar, and blew a ring of smoke outwards. "Here's the deal. I do what I can to spread the news across the entire wasteland. And to do so, Ive got a satellite relay set up on top of the Washington Monument that helps me give the news to all. Thing is, some Super Mutant thought it would be funny to shoot the shiny circular disc on top of the monument and turned my relay dish in to swiss cheese." He continued.

"Will you be getting to the point sometime soon?" I said, I was getting a little impatient with this guy.

"You want to find your dad, and I need my relay dish replaced. You go to the Museum of Technology in the DC ruins. Inside you'll find an old Lunar Lander that has a relay dish on it that is the perfect replacement for the one that got destroyed. You take the dish to the top of the monument and replace it, and voila, I can broadcast to anyone and everyone again." He explained.

"Let me guess. This museum is probably swarming with enemies right?" I asked him.

"Listen kid, Im not gonna lie to you. This isnt gonna be easy, but if you do this you wont only be helping me, but youll be helping move along the good fight. If you want, I can give you access to my weapons cache to help you in your little quest." He replied.

I just stood there thinking about whether or not helping this bozo was worth the information Id be getting. For all I know he could be lying through his teeth about knowing where my dad is. In the end I figured if this meant helping the people of the wastes, Id be willing to do it.

"Alright Three Dog, you win, Ill do it. And I want access to that weapons cache you mentioned." I demanded.

"Fantastic to hear kid. Here's the key to the cache, you'll find it in the main room just up the stairs. If you want, there's an old bed up there as well if you need some rest before you head out. He then handed me the key, Good luck kid." Was all he said.

"Yeah, thanks." I retorted.

I left Three Dog to his business and headed upstairs to find that cache he mentioned. I found an old footlocker against the wall and placed the key inside the keyhole. With a quick turn, the footlocker popped open, revealing the goodies inside. I found a few grenades and a couple frag mines inside, along with a little more ammo and even a few medical supplies.

I also found the bed Three Dog had mentioned, and figured I should catch a few winks before I headed out. All in all I slept about four hours, and it was around 6 o clock in the morning when I started to get ready to leave.

I brought the map up on my Pip Boy and marked the Museum of Technology on my compass. It would be a long and no doubt treacherous journey that led through a couple of abandoned subway tunnels.

I holstered my pistol, placed my Assault Rifle over my shoulder, and secured my bag to my back. I exited GNR from the top floor, and when I opened the door to go out I found myself looking down on a couple of blown out floors of the building which lead down to a small bridge which crossed over the street below. The streets were riddled with old, broken down cars that hadn't been used for decades. It was a rather depressing sight.

I carefully climbed down to the bottom and jumped on to the dirt below when I was close enough. As I trudged along, I was startled by a sudden loud hissing.

I immediately took cover behind the nearest car wreckage I could find and drew my pistol. The hissing had turned in to a low growling now, and I could hear the shuffling of slow, dragging feet.

I cautiously peeked over the hood of the vehicle to see what had given me such a fright. My heart seemed to rise up in to my throat when my eyes beheld three nasty looking creatures sniffing the air just feet away from me. These were Feral Ghouls; mindless zombies that were out for one flesh.

I ducked back behind the car and kissed the top of my pistol. I would have to be quick in disposing of them, or Id be eaten alive. I readied my pistol, and then sprang in to action. I quickly jumped up and fired off a few rounds which got one of the Ghouls right in the head, and got another in the chest and shoulder. The two survivors reared their heads back and screeched aloud, then darted towards me.

"Fuck me!" I shouted as I started to backpedal away from them. I unloaded a few more rounds and managed to cause another ghoul to trip over itself. It was now down to a one on one fight, and I was sure I had it.

The last one was just inches away from me when I pulled the trigger to blow its brains out. The only thing that happened though was my pistol making a loud clicking noise, and me getting head butted by the Ghoul.

I hit the ground like a sack of bricks, and had the wind knocked out of me. I struggled to catch my breath when the Feral Ghoul grabbed on to my arm and threw me to the side. It hissed and growled as it continued the onslaught.

The fifth time it ran up to me I managed to block its attack and pushed it away from me. It staggered back and shrieked. I brought my Assault Rifle up and aimed right in to its gaping maw.

"Fuck you too." I said calmly, then pulled the trigger and tore through the Ghouls head, blowing the top of its skull off. The Ghoul let loose a blood choked gurgle, and then fell to the cold asphalt.

I felt a sudden stinging in my left arm, and brought it up to check the damage. The Ghoul had left a rather nasty set of scratches on my forearm that would probably become infected if I didn't treat it as soon as possible.

I went over and sat myself up against one of the wrecked vehicles, then rummaged through my pack for the proper medical supplies. I brought out a bottle of fresh water, a Stimpak, and a few cloth bandages. I twisted the cap off of the water and held my arm out in front of me. I cringed in pain as I poured the water over the wound. I then grabbed the Stimpak and injected it near the wound to help clean and heal the damaged area. Lastly, I took some of the bandages and wrapped them around my forearm to seal the deal.

I moved my fingers around a bit to make sure I still had good enough use of my hand and arm. It made me a little sore, but it was nothing serious. I pulled my Leather Armor up and noticed a big blue mark right in the middle of my stomach. Thats gonna take a while to heal. I said to myself, then let my armor fall back down.

I got myself to my feet and walked over and picked my pistol up off the ground. Useless piece of shit. I mumbled as I looked it over to find out what had gone wrong. I found out that the gun had jammed, and after tinkering with it for a bit, I managed to fix it, and placed it back in its holster.

I crossed the bridge, then headed down a flight of stairs that led to the street below. My compass pointed towards an old rusted door that led to the subway tunnels below. I opened the door and entered the dark, eerie underground. It was so dark that I had to turn the light on my Pip Boy on so I could see where I was going. I made sure to sneak through the tunnels as quietly as I could, but it didnt matter because there was little resistance.

I saw sunlight shining through a metal gate just up ahead and knew that was my exit. I crept up to the gate, opened it up, and made my way back in to the wastes. A cool breeze blew across my face as I stepped back outside, and little wisps of dust blew over the surface of the ground.

I walked up the broken down escalator at my front and surveyed the area I had entered. There were plenty of run down and broken buildings scattered about. The most noticeable landmarks were the surprisingly still intact Washington Monument to my left, and the Museum of History to the North West. There were large trenches that had been dug out of the ground, and makeshift wooden bridges that made it easier to cross over the tops.

After taking only a few more steps, the sound of a gun being fired rang out across the air, and I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder. I staggered forward and noticed the blood dripping from the gaping bullet wound in my shoulder. I turned around and was greeted by the sight of a small group of Super Mutants yelling and screaming at me.

"God damn it!" I cursed, then ran towards some sand bags that were lying around as bullets soared past me.

"Come out human!" one of the overgrown brutes yelled out.

"Why don't you come and get me!" I shouted in response.

I then pulled a frag mine out of my pack and placed it on the ground just next to me, and swept some sand over it to help conceal it. There were more sandbags in front of me, so I quickly shuffled over to them and crawled over without being seen.

"You, go find him!" I heard a mutant order to another.

I admit I had a slight smirk on my face when I heard the explosion from the frag mine being triggered by the stray mutant.

The other two Super Mutants roared aloud in dismay at what had happened.

"We find you human!" one shouted, then fired off a few random shots from its Assault Rifle.

I pulled my pistol from its holster and leaned over the sandbags. I got one of them right in the jaw after a few well placed shots, then hid again when the bullets started to fly.

"Found you!" a mutant shouted. After it said this, I could hear their big, lumbering feet coming closer.

I looked around to see if there was any more cover close by, but I couldn't see any. I guess now it just came down to whether or not I could fire quickly and accurately enough to take both remaining mutants down before they killed me.

Right as I was about to go out guns blazing, I heard two gunshots ring out over the furious screams of the mutants, and then all went silent. I stood up and saw the two Super Mutants just standing there. After a few seconds, their knees buckled, and they fell limp. Standing just a few feet behind them was that same Mysterious Stranger I had run in to the night before.

He just stood there for a few moments, then holstered his Magnum and turned to leave.

"Wait!" I shouted after him while holding my hand out.

The man stopped walking and stood facing away from me.

"Who are you, and why are you helping me?" I asked him.

There was an awkward silence between us, and he gave no response.

"Answer me!" I said in a raised voice.

He glanced over his shoulder, lifted his hand, and tipped his Fedora at me. When I tried to chase after him, he rounded a building, and when I turned after him, he was gone.

The stinging sensation of the wound I had received suddenly came back to me. It was a searing burn that made me cringe and clench my teeth. I quickly pulled a Stimpak from my pack and jammed it in to my shoulder. I screamed aloud as the medicine spread throughout my system to start the healing process. I clenched my fists and slammed them in to the wall I was leaning against.

I didn't have much else to properly treat a wound like this with. All I could do was wrap the wound in cloth and try and find whatever help I could.

Maybe there are people over at the Washington Monument that could help me. I figure if its where Three Dogs news was really broadcasted from, it had to be guarded by the Brotherhood of Steel or someone who could help.

I made the slow trek towards the Monument, and didn't receive the kind of warm welcome I thought I would. There were more Super Mutants patrolling the area just in front of the Monument, which was surrounded by a tall, concrete wall with a giant metal gate at the front.

Well this is just fantastic. I said under my breath.

There was no way in hell that I would last another skirmish with any of the wastelands many hostile creatures.

Why couldn't that guy stay around long enough to kill these things? I thought to myself.

I had already lost a good deal of blood, and if I didn't get help soon, I would probably pass out. I hid behind a low concrete wall and contemplated how I was to continue.

I wouldn't have to do much thinking, though, because the gates to the Monument suddenly shifted open, and two Brotherhood of Steel soldiers wielding Mini-Guns came barging out. The Super Mutants had almost no time to react and most of them were torn to pieces as they scrambled about trying to take cover. I lifted my Assault Rifle and took out one of the mutants that hid where I could still see it.

I screamed in pain once more as the rifle kicked against my wounded shoulder. My arm suddenly went numb, and I could no longer grip my weapon. The battle between the Brotherhood and the Super Mutants didnt last much longer, and when it was over, I came out from behind my cover and signaled to the others.

"Help! Ive been shot and I need your help!" I shouted.

One of the soldiers ran over to assist me. As he approached me, my vision started to get blurry, and I could feel myself fading in and out of consciousness. I fell to my knees, then fell flat on my face and passed out.


	5. Chapter 5: Museum Tour

**Chapter 5: Three Dog, Muties, and Ghouls oh my!**

When I finally came to, I found myself indoors lying on an old mattress. There was a round table at the foot of the mattress that had a working lamp sitting on top of it. I sat myself up and cringed at the pain moving around caused.

"Easy kid, don't move around too much." I heard someone say from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw a man sitting in a chair with a Sniper Rifle in his hands.

"Where am I?" I asked him.

"You're inside the Washington Monument, on the top floor. You're lucky you signaled us when you did. You were in pretty bad shape when they brought you to me." He explained. "Oh, forgive my manners. My name is William; I'm the medic here at the monument."

He looked down at his rifle and caressed it, "I'm also not a bad shot with this sniper rifle either." He added.

My head throbbed with such an intense pounding that I could barely focus my vision or hearing. I looked over at my shoulder and noticed that the wound had been patched up properly. "I suppose I have you to thank for this?" I asked sarcastically.

William chuckled, "Yes, and you're welcome. Now, do you mind telling me just who you are and what you were doing in a dangerous place like this?"

I placed a hand on my forehead and tried to piece everything together. "I was sent by a man named Three Dog to replace the relay dish here at the monument. It seems I was ill prepared for the high level of danger this area presents." I explained.

"Three Dog finally got somebody to replace that damn thing, huh? He must've had something you really want for you to take on such a difficult task." was his response.

I let loose a small sigh, "He knows where my father is. I've been looking for him for about three weeks now, and it seems like I'm always one step behind him." I said while looking at the floor.

William shifted in his chair, "I'm sorry to hear about that. I'm amazed that a young kid like you managed to make it even this far." he commented.

I grinned at his comment, "Yeah, I get that a lot." I retorted.

I moved my arm around to keep it from becoming too stiff. "Do you think I'll still be able to use my Assault Rifle properly?" I asked William.

William shook his head, "I wouldn't recommend it. Might cause the stitches to open up and slow the healing process. I would suggest that you stick with one handed weapons for now." was his advice.

"Good thing my pistol is incredibly reliable." I said in a sarcastic tone, which got a slight chuckle from William.

I lifted my Pip Boy to check the time. Three o' clock in the afternoon. I must've been out for a good six or so hours. I knew that I was in no condition to be sneaking through a museum to try and find some relay dish, but I had to get moving as soon as I could. Every second that I sat around meant that my dad got farther and farther away from me.

I got myself to my feet, but my legs were so weak that I nearly fell over when I did. I leaned up against the wall and grasped on to my stomach. I started feeling dizzy again and felt like I was going to vomit. William came to my aid and placed a hand on my back.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing? There's no way you'll survive if you go in there like this." he stated.

I swallowed my pain and straightened my posture, "I don't have a choice." was all I said to him in response.

He walked back over to where he had been sitting and pulled a small syringe from a med pack. "Here, let me give you a shot of Med-X to give you more energy and loosen your limbs up a bit." he then lifted the sleeve of my armor and shot the medicine in to me.

It felt warm as it released in to my system, and almost immediately I felt refreshed and re-energized.

"The effects don't last forever. I'd say you have about two hours to complete your task before the effects wear off." he warned.

"Also," he started, "We've spotted more Super Mutants patrolling between here and the museum. I'll stay up here and pick off any that I see to make your journey that much easier. Once you're inside, though, it's all up to you."

I held my hand out and shook his, "Try not to hit me." I said jokingly, and he just laughed.

I entered in to the elevator at the center of the room and pressed the button to take me down. The rickety elevator made a few screeching noises as it started up, and then began its slow descent. When I stepped out of the elevator at the bottom I had to cover my eyes from the shining sun.

There were two Brotherhood members standing guard near the gate. "Hey stranger, you heading out?" one of them asked me, and I nodded in response.

I glanced over my shoulder and looked up near the top of the monument where I had descended from. I could barely make out someone leaning over the opening with his Sniper Rifle at the ready.

I stepped outside the boundaries of the gate, and it soon closed behind me. I shook my hands and trotted in place for a few moments to limber up. It was pretty much a straight shot to the museum, and so far I hadn't seen any mutants.

"Let's see just how good of a shot you are William." I said to myself. I drew my pistol so I would have some way to defend myself if William's aim proved less than satisfactory.

I exhaled deeply one last time, then darted off towards my destination. The first mutant spotted me about a hundred feet from the monument gate and screamed aloud as I ran past. Lucky for me it had terrible aim with the Hunting Rifle that it wielded, so I was able to dodge the shots with ease. A shot rang out from behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the mutant's scalp get blown off.

The next mutant jumped out as I reached the halfway point of my mad dash to the museum. "You no outrun me human!" it roared aloud.

I fired off a few potshots at the brute while I was running and managed to hit it a few times in the chest. All that really did was piss it off even more. Another shot rang out over the air and got the mutant right in the throat. It clasped its neck and spat out a good amount of blood as it toppled to the ground.

I thought I was home free as there were no other mutants in sight, but as I ran past a broken down wall, I felt something strike me in the back. I threw my hands out to break my fall, then flipped on to my back to see what had struck me down.

A Super Mutant was standing behind me; it had a giant plank of wood in its hands. It laughed deeply and advanced on me while repeatedly slamming the plank in to the palm of its hand. It lifted the plank high above its head and screamed at me.

Its face suddenly erupted in to a cloud of red mist, and it dropped the plank and fell backwards.

I got myself to my feet, and to my surprise, the blow to my back hadn't really done all that much damage. It must have been the Med-X William had administered to me before I left.

I brushed some of the bits of mutie flesh off of my face and armor, then started towards the museum once again. I reached the museum and took a deep breath from all the running I had done. The museum looked surprisingly intact even though most of the surrounding buildings were scorched and broken down.

I grabbed on to the handle of one of the double doors and slowly pulled it open. Just like the subway tunnels I had come through, there wasn't much light within the museum. The air inside was thick with dust, and it was in pretty bad condition. I quietly closed the door behind me and readied my pistol once again.

This time around I opted not to use the light on my Pip Boy to help find my way. I had a feeling that there were probably Super Mutants in here as well. I could make out a set of stairs to my immediate left, and to my front there was a broken balcony overlooking the floor I was on. There was also an old model plane on the floor to my right, and there was other random debris scattered about.

Up on the second floor there was a dim light coming through a glass window. I assumed this must have been some sort of maintenance room or something. I cautiously crept up the stairs and rounded the corner in to the room I had seen. Inside I found a small safe embedded in the wall, a computer terminal, and a small desk with a few filing cabinets nearby.

The safe had a combination lock as well as a slot for a keyhole. I took a few bobby pins out of my pack and tinkered around with unlocking it. After breaking a few of them, I managed to unlock the safe and took the 100 caps and the single clip of 10 mm ammo inside.

I scoured through the desk and file cabinets for any kind of useful items, but didn't find much. I didn't even bother with the computer terminal, I was so illiterate when it came to that kind of crap. You would think with my dad being a scientist and all that I would have the knowledge on how to work computers, but it's just something I never really got in to.

The next area I ventured in to was an audio tour through a model of a Vault. It depressed me a little to be in such a familiar looking place and reminded me of all the friends I had back in Vault 101. Amata, Christine, Paul, and even though we had our differences at first, Butch and I had come to a mutual agreement when I saved his mother from Radroaches.

Thankfully, the tour wasn't very long, and before I knew it I had made my way to the Western Wing of the museum. I saw a poster for the Virgo II Lunar Lander, and I saw the relay dish attached to it. Below the poster was an arrow pointing to the right, and when I glanced in the direction I needed to go, I saw only a pile of rubble that went all the way up to the ceiling.

"Great." I mumbled to myself. It seemed as if I would have to take a detour through a different part of the museum to get to the lander.

I hugged the walls as I made my way further in to the museum, and was surprised that I hadn't met any resistance thus far. It took me about forty or so minutes of spelunking to find my back to the Lunar Lander. When I saw the actual size of the relay dish I was going to have to carry back to the monument I became a little distraught. It was about three feet in diameter, and it would be no easy task carrying it that far.

I climbed up to where the relay dish was and loosened it to the point where I could pull it out. As I tried to remove it by pulling on it, I lost my footing and started to fall. Instinctively I reached out and grabbed on to the dish and was hanging about fifteen or so feet above the floor. I heard creaking noises coming from the lander as the dish was pulled loose, and without warning I soon found myself falling to the floor.

I let loose a loud grunt as I hit the tile floor, and rolled to the side when I realized that the relay dish wasn't far behind. It made a loud clang when it hit, which couldn't be good.

I heard muffled yells coming from deep within the museum, and knew I would have to act fast. I looked the dish over and made sure that there was no serious damage that would prevent it from working. There were a few scrapes, but it was still intact and useable.

The footsteps were drawing closer now, so I picked the dish up off the ground; which was surprisingly lighter than I would have thought. I sprinted towards an open doorway along the wall and gently closed it behind me just as I heard a few Super Mutants pour in to the room I had just been in.

I carried the dish at my side as I slowly walked down the hall I had just entered in to. I could hear the mutants yelling at each other just behind me, and I prayed that it would be a while before they decided to spread out and search. As I rounded a corner, I heard the door I had come through swing open and slam against the wall.

"You look here!" I heard a mutant order.

I quickened my pace as I ran down the long hallway and could see another door a few yards ahead. I kicked it open as I approached it and found myself in a large, dome shaped room that had some sort of holographic projector sitting in the middle.

I heard a door break down and looked up to the second floor of the room to see two Super Mutants run in. They started shooting as soon as they saw me, but I was already running towards the open door on the opposite side of the room. The other Super Mutants that had been following me through the hallway at my back came in to the room as I exited it. I found myself back in the East Wing of the museum and knew that I still had a ways to go before I was home free.

Bullets penetrated the walls nearby as I continued to run for my life. After running and dodging bullets for about fifteen more minutes, I could feel myself becoming extremely fatigued. The Med-X must be wearing off. I busted through another set of double doors and could see the exit just ahead.

A Super Mutant Master stood on the balcony I had seen when I first entered the museum, and in his hands he carried what looked like some sort of Missile Launcher.

"If I live through this I am going to _kill_ Three Dog!" I shouted aloud as I sprinted off towards the exit.

I heard the loud boom of the Super Mutant Master firing off a missile at me, and the missile made a loud hissing noise as it soared through the air. I used my free arm and aimed my pistol at the door and fired off a single shot. The door was flung open and I used my remaining energy to jump through the exit.

The missile made contact with the ground a ways behind me, but it was enough to send me flying forward. I slammed in to the ground with amazing force and slid across the dirt for about thirty feet. Large chunks of debris flew around me as I lay there, but luckily none of it struck me.

A large cloud of smoke had formed around the entrance to the museum, and when it had finally cleared there was a giant pile of rubble that had fallen over the doorway. All I could do was sit there for a while, my body was bruised and battered, and it would be near impossible to trek back to the monument while carrying a thirty-five pound relay dish.

I sat there for a good twenty minutes before I finally decided to make the journey back. I found the dish lying on the ground a ways away from where I had landed, and it still hadn't sustained any serious damage, which to me was a miracle. I wrapped my arms around it and limped off towards the monument.


	6. Chapter 6: Destination: Rivet City

**Chapter 6: Destination: Rivet City**

It didn't take me too long to reach the monument again, and William was even there to greet me.

"We heard the explosion from over here and expected the worst." He told me as I approached him. "I came out here to see if I could spot you amongst all the smoke and debris. I'm glad to see that you've made it back alive." He then offered to take the dish off of my hands, and I was glad to let go of the thing.

"I need something hard to drink. You guys got any liquor lying around?" I asked William as we entered through the front gate.

William pointed to an old refrigerator leaning up against the wall just inside. "Help yourself my friend. I'll take this up to the top of the monument and get it installed and make sure to radio GNR and tell them the good news." He said, then left me to drink myself silly.

I threw the fridge door open and grabbed one of the crates of whiskey that was lying inside. "Ah, sweet nectar." I said as I twisted the bottle cap off of one. The taste was a little off, but I suppose that was due to the fact that it was probably decades old and wasn't chilled.

After drinking about five or so, I stood up and staggered over to a cot that was under an overhang in front of the elevator and passed out.

All I could hear when I finally came to was a loud ringing noise inside my head. I turned myself over and placed a hand on my head. I was drenched in sweat and felt like vomiting. I crawled over to a nearby garbage can, leaned over it, and hurled in to it. I must've puked about three or four times before I finally fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Jesus kid, you alright?" I heard one of the Brotherhood Paladins ask me.

I threw my hand up and gave him a thumbs up in response, and he just laughed. I crawled back over to the cot and pulled myself up on to it. I wiped the excess vomit away from my mouth and looked around. It wasn't even until this point that I realized that night had fallen once again.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"It's almost ten o' clock. It's been pretty quiet since you passed out." I was told.

"Did William get that relay dish installed?" I asked.

"Yeah he did. He also said that once he radioed GNR to tell them the news he could hear Three Dog going crazy in the background. He's been broadcasting non-stop ever since." the Paladin responded.

Just then I heard the elevator doors creak open and a familiar face walked out.

"Glad to see you didn't drink yourself in to a coma my friend!" William greeted.

I laughed a bit at this, then sat up and leaned against the wall. I cracked open another beer and took a swig. It almost made me vomit again, but I held it down.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" William advised.

I took another large gulp and placed the beer on the ground. "Fuck if I care, at least it helps null the pain." I responded.

William decided to let me do as I pleased then walked back over to the elevator. "Just try not to overdo it alright? You're a valuable asset to the Brotherhood, and to the whole of the Capital Wasteland. It'd be a shame to lose you to something like alcohol." He said to me before returning to the top floor of the monument.

Ha, me a valuable asset to the wastes. The only reason I've even survived this long is because of that damned stranger that keeps showing up whenever I've got my nuts in a vice. Who was that guy anyway, and why did he give a fuck if I lived or died? And where did he learn to shoot so well? Sarah Lyons seemed to be the best shot I've seen of the Brotherhood members so far and even she isn't anywhere near as good. I slowly lay back down on the cot as these thoughts rolled around in my head, and it wasn't long before sleep found me once again.

My eyes suddenly shot open and I realized that morning had come. Everything was a bit blurry, so I sat up and rubbed my eyes until I could see more clearly. I felt sick and groggy from the hangover that I had acquired. I stood myself up and leaned against the wall to keep my footing until I could walk on my own. I walked over and sat myself at a small round table near the front gate where two other Brotherhood members were sitting.

"There anything decent to eat here?" I asked as I slammed down in to the chair.

One of the Paladins handed me a box that read "Fancy Lads Snack Cakes" on it. "It isn't much, but it's better than nothing." He said as I took it from him.

Inside the box I found a couple completely smashed snack cakes. I quickly scarfed them down and ignored the grated taste. They had retained a bit of the sweetness they once had, but other than that they tasted mostly like dirt. I grabbed another box and shoved them in to my mouth, then opened up a beer and washed it all down. I could feel my energy returning already, and burped loudly after finishing off the beer.

"Thanks guys, that really hit the spot." I told them, but they were just staring at me.

"It's probably high time I headed back to GNR to pay ol' Three Dog a visit." I then walked back over to the cot and gathered my things together.

I could hear the elevator coming down and I figured it was William coming to say goodbye. The door opened and sure enough there he stood. "Leaving already?" he inquired.

"I need to get the information from Three Dog as soon as possible. Thanks for all your help." I said as I extended my hand to him.

He took it in kind and smiled, "No, thank you my friend. You've made a lot of headway with what you've done for us. I'll make sure to listen for more of your exploits from here on out." And with that, I turned from him and headed towards the gate.

It slowly slid open as I approached it, and I waved to everyone over my shoulder as I headed back out in to the wastes. It took me about three hours to get back to GNR, and as soon as I entered the building I headed up to speak with Three Dog.

"Hey, the hero of the wastes returns!" he shouted at me as I walked in to his office.

"Cut the shit and tell me what I want to know." I said calmly.

"Alright, take it easy kid. You did your job, and as a man of my word, I'll tell you what you need to know. After talking about Project Purity your dad mentioned something about a Doctor Li and said he was headed off to Rivet City." He explained.

I had no idea where Rivet City was, so I had Three Dog mark it on my map. It lay a good distance from GNR and would probably take a day or two to get there depending on what sort of resistance I might meet.

I said nothing else to Three Dog and made sure to get out of there before I decided to beat him senseless. "Good luck out there kid!" he shouted as I exited his office.

I walked back downstairs and headed out the front door. Dark clouds had settled over the wasteland, but that didn't cause the heat to be any less brutal. I adjusted the strap on my pack for comfort, then headed out towards Rivet City. I suddenly realized that my journey would take me straight back through the DC ruins. At least I knew that some of the area would already be clear of hostiles from my previous journey to DC.

I passed through some familiar metro tunnels, and others that I had yet to visit. Feral Ghouls had laid claim to one of the tunnels I travelled through. I ran in to a few that were wearing remnants of armor. They were once probably people just like me, travelling the wastes while trying to survive and fend for themselves. Some time long ago, but now they were empty shells, void of any emotion except rage.

I shot the last of them down as it charged at me, and I almost felt the slightest hint of pity for the creature when I looked in to its lifeless, milky white eyes. I hoped to God that I would never take in enough radiation to become one of these things.

I crept through the rest of the tunnel and soon found myself back out in the wastes. I checked my Pip Boy and saw that I was about halfway to my destination. It was getting dark, the sun had almost completely disappeared under the horizon. I looked around for somewhere that I could rest for the night.

I found an old semi that had been run off the road nearby. It still had the trailer attached to the back, and I figured I'd better be cautious in opening it up. I readied my pistol and grabbed on to the latch. Nothing but a murky cloud of dust erupted from within the trailer when I pulled the door open. I wiped my brow, and with a small sigh, I was glad to see that there was no danger here. I made my way in to the trailer and closed the door behind me. It was almost completely empty inside, with only a few metal crates lying around. I leaned myself against the wall and rubbed my still sore shoulder. After shifting around for a few minutes, I finally made myself as comfortable as possible and tried to get some sleep.

The sound of gunfire suddenly awoke me from my slumber. And I barely ducked down as bullets ripped through the sides of the trailer.

"What the fuck?" I shouted as I scrambled across the floor to the opening at the other end of the trailer.

I poked my head out and saw four men in black armor firing at the semi like mad men.

"You still alive in there!?" one of them yelled as the firing ceased.

I pulled my pistol out and shot one of them in the head, which sent his brains spewing out all over his comrades. I ducked back in to the trailer as the bullets began to fly once more. As I hurried back in, I knocked one of the metal crates over, and an odd looking device fell in to my lap.

"Get over there and make sure that little bastard doesn't escape!" I heard one of them order to the others.

The doors were suddenly flung open, and the three remaining mercenaries slowly walked inwards. "We know you're in here. Why don't you give yourself up and maybe we'll kill you quickly." one of them said to me.

One of them shined a makeshift flashlight towards the other end of the trailer. "Hey, where'd he go? No way he could've got past us…"

In fact, I had exited the trailer just as they opened the doors. The device I stumbled upon just so happened to be a Stealth Boy, which allows anyone with a Pip Boy to become completely invisible for a set amount of time by inserting it in to their wrist. I took a couple of frag mines out of my pack and placed them at the open end of the trailer, then covered them with sand and rocks.

My Stealth Boy wore off a few minutes later as I was walking away from the wrecked semi. I chuckled to myself when I heard the muffled screams of the mercs followed by loud explosions. Those men must have been hired by someone to assassinate me. I'm thinking it was Burke, who I'm sure had survived the little fiasco back in Megaton. I couldn't be certain though, so I just let it slide to the back of my mind for now.

My mouth had become dry, and my lips cracked. I reached in to my bag for a bottle of water and realized that it was my last bottle of pure water. I drank a quarter of it and decided to ration the rest for the remainder of the journey. I also grabbed some Mutfruit from my bag and scarfed it down. I spit the seeds to the ground as I chewed the edible parts of the fruit. It left a bitter after taste, but I wasn't going to starve just because the food choice out here wasn't what I was used to. Besides, the taste kind of grates after a while.

I checked the compass on my Pip Boy once again and followed the arrow until I came to yet another Metro Tunnel. These various tunnels weren't as freaky to me compared to the first couple of times I ventured through them, but they sure as hell were just as creepy. Who knows what I would meet in this tunnel. Feral Ghouls, Super Mutants, mutated animals, maybe even Raiders. I took a deep breath and opened up the old, rusty metal gates.

I immediately noticed that these tunnels were more stuffy than most of the other metro lines that I had traveled. As I traveled further in to the dark tunnels, I could make out muffled voices coming from even deeper within. I crept through a few more metal hallways until I came across a single, large utility door. I pressed my ear against the cold steel of the door and listened in to whoever was talking on the other side.

"We attack soon?" I heard a deep and hardened voice ask.

"Yes, when big light in sky go down, we attack big boat and take humans in it to the breeding vats." another similar sounding voice answered.

"What about humans with guns? We take them, or we kill them?" another voice asked gruffly.

"Take if you can, but if not, then kill them and we eat them later." The voice from before replied.

Many voices then burst in to deep, bellowing laughter, "Humans not know what coming. It will be greatest catch yet!" a voice yelled, and soon after the other voices burst in to laughter once again.

I had already come to the realization that these were Super Mutants, and it sounded like they were planning an attack on Rivet City. This meant that I must be close to my destination, and even closer to finding my dad. I had to get to Rivet City as soon as possible and warn them of the impending mutant attack.

I stepped away from the door and knocked my foot against a metal can that had been lying on the floor. I cursed at myself in my mind, and took off when I noticed the utility door opening up. "Human know our plan! Kill him!" a mutant yelled out just as I started ascending a flight of stairs.

I could hear them barreling towards me with amazing speed. Their metal boots clanged against the floor of the halls as they chased me down. I could see light pouring through a metal gate a couple hundred feet ahead of me as I reached the top of the stairway. Bullets whizzed past me as I came in to the view of the mutants, and I darted off once again. I didn't dare look behind me to see just how many mutants were chasing me. All I could focus on was getting out of here and reaching Rivet City before these freaks could mutilate me.

I threw a grenade at the gate as I ran for it, and ran through the cloud of smoke it created when it went off and blew the gate open. I stumbled up another flight of steps as I came back out in to the wastes. A giant battle cruiser that had been separated from the hull of the ship now lie before me. The mutants were screaming and yelling from behind me as they too came through the gateway of the metro. I could feel my heart pounding at an astounding rate, and I felt as if my lungs could explode at any moment. I swallowed my pain though, and made one final dash for a ramp that led up to the old cruiser.

My heart sank as I reached the platform at the top of the ramp and realized that there was a sizeable gap between me and the entrance to the ship. I noticed an old intercom panel sticking out of a metal beam near the edge.

I scurried over to it and pressed the large orange button at the bottom of it. "Extend the fucking bridge!" I shouted in to the speaker in a panic.

"I might feel more inclined to extend the bridge if you use a more civil tone with me." a man replied on the other end.

"Fuck using a civil tone. Do you not see the Super Mutants trailing behind me!?" I screamed.

The bridge at the other end suddenly sprang to life and started easing its way towards my end. When it had extended close enough, I leapt on to it and ran towards the ship and screamed at them to bring the bridge back. Two men who wore pitch black armor and black metal helmets with glass visors came rushing out of a large metal door directly at my front.

One of them wielded a 10 mm SMG and the other wielded an Assault Rifle. "Get inside civilian, let the Rivet City Security take care of these brutes!" one of them ordered me.

"Fuck that, I'm getting a piece of this action. You'll need all the help you can get!" was my response. The men nodded and we positioned ourselves and waited for the mutants. It wasn't too long after when the first group of mutants came pouring on to the platform. One of the mutants heads suddenly popped as a bullet tore through it. I looked up and noticed a sniper positioned atop the ship.

A rather large mutant burst forth from within the group of grunts and fired a missile at us. We jumped to the side as the missile whirred past us and made contact with the side of the ship. I got up and fired off a few shots in to the group of mutants. I hit a few of them but it didn't cause much damage.

Another of the mutants who was carrying a large and strange looking device on its back came in to view. It placed the device at the edge of the platform and snapped it in to place. Within seconds, a bridge that they had constructed was extending towards our end.

"No way the mutants are smart enough to make something like that!" one of the guards said in shock of what he was witnessing.

"There's no time to think about it now. We've got to head inside and garrison ourselves against the mutants!" the other guard suggested. The three of us then retreated inside where even more guards were waiting for us. There was also a good deal of normal civilians huddling behind the tables and counters inside.

"What's going on out there?" a rather tall and proud looking man asked the two guards. He had dark brown hair that was slicked back, and had hazel colored eyes. He wore an off green colored set of armor and had a modified Assault Rifle attached to his back.

"Captain Harkness sir, there's a good twenty or so Super Mutants just outside, and they've made a bridge to cross over to our side!" one of the guards told him.

Harkness's eyes went wide in disbelief, "They made a bridge, how? Never mind that, we need to get these civilians to safety!" he ordered. The guards scrambled about and led the civilians deeper in to the ship and told them to hide.

When all of the guards had returned, Harkness laid out the battle plans to repel the mutants from Rivet City. Everyone got to their assigned positions, including myself, and waited in anticipation for the mutants to break through.

A couple of loud bangs rang through the ship, and large dents appeared in the door that blocked the mutants from reaching us. A few more loud clangs and the door was suddenly blown off its hinges. A large, fully armored mutant wielding a Mini-Gun burst through the cloud of smoke and started firing bullets like crazy. It took the legs off of one of the guards that was nearby, and blasted the arm off of another. Everyone fired on the brute as it continued its onslaught.

It laughed maniacally as its Mini-Gun roared over the sound of all the other gunfire. It killed three more guards before we were finally able to take it down. As it fell to the floor, three more mutants poured in to the ship to take its place.

"We've got the leader; now let's sweep up the rest!' Harkness shouted from behind his cover. I threw a couple of frags towards the mutants and blew one of their legs off. The other two were knocked to the ground and were promptly picked off by the guards.

More mutants poured in and a couple of them threw a few frag grenades in random directions. A few disembodied limbs landed near me as one of them went off. I leaned over my cover and fired at the mutants. I managed to hit one of them in the head just as it pulled the pin from its grenade. The other mutants screamed aloud as they noticed the live grenade at their feet. Red chunks were sent flying outwards as it exploded in their faces.

The last wave of mutants poured in, and we could see that these weren't ordinary grunts. They were wearing armor that partially covered their bodies and were wielding Hunting Rifles. One of the guards near me poked his head out, and it was promptly blown to bits. Harkness fired blindly from his cover and took one of the mutants out. He then snuck to the right of them and jumped from the shadows and fired in to them. His bullets ripped through another mutants shoulder and severed its arm. He slammed the barrel of his rifle in to its mouth and let loose. The top of the mutants head blew off and its brains were splattered on to the ceiling.

The last mutant took the other end of its Hunting Rifle and swung it at Harkness. To my surprise, Harkness simply held his hand out and grabbed on to the gun's barrel, then butted the mutant in the face with his own gun. As the mutant staggered back, Harkness blew its knees apart, and then stomped on its skull as it fell to the floor.

I had to rub my eyes to make sure what I was seeing was real. Did a regular human being just stop a mutant's blow with his bare hands, and then exert enough force to crush its skull beneath his boot? I didn't have much time to ponder it, however, when he started to order everyone to remove all the bodies and clean up all the gore.

It took us a couple hours to get most of the mess cleaned up, and there were still people scrubbing the blood off of the metal interior of the ship when I approached Harkness.

I cleared my throat to get his attention. He turned to face me and had a grim look on his face. "What is it? Why aren't you helping with the clean up?" he barked at me.

"I have been helping sir. I was just wondering if you've seen a middle aged man with grey hair wearing a blue vault suit around here?" I inquired.

Harkness thought for a bit when his eyes suddenly lit up. "I think I remember someone like that showing up a few days ago. He said he needed to see Doctor Li, so I pointed him to the Science Labs near the back of the ship. If he's still here, that's where you'll find him." He told me.

I thanked him for the information, and then headed off towards the Science Labs. When I walked through the door to the lab, my heart started to pound in excitement. I could very well be just steps away from being reunited with my father. I heard a man and a woman talking just down a flight of stairs, and my heart started pounding even faster when I saw a man in a blue suit talking to a woman in a white lab coat.


	7. Chapter 7: Passing Fancy, or More?

**Quick note to anyone reading this, here is where the M rating becomes** **apparent, if the cursing hasn't already made it clear.**

**Chapter 7: Passing Fancy, or Something More?**

I took a deep breath and approached the two people. My excitement soon turned to gloom when I realized that the man standing before me was not my father. It was just some guy wearing a blue maintenance suit. He smiled at me as he walked past, but I couldn't smile back. The woman was wearing a white lab coat which covered a blue dress beneath. She had blue eyes, and had her black hair done up in a bun. She looked to be in her early forties, close to my dad, but was still easy on the eyes. She had a puzzled look on her face as I approached her.

The look soon turned to surprise as I came in to the light just inches from her. "My God, you must be Jason!" she said to me, which caught me off guard.

"How do you know my name?" I asked her.

She smiled at me and put her hand up to her chin, "He wouldn't stop talking about you….and you're the spitting image of him." she replied.

"So you've seen my father? Please, where is he?" I pleaded with her.

"Yes, I've seen James, and now I wish I hadn't." she started.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

She placed a hand on her forehead and sighed, "Damn it, did he really expect us to just pick up where we had left off after all this time?" she mumbled to herself.

"Umm, you're not making much sense right now." I said to her.

She suddenly snapped back to reality, "Oh, forgive me. I'm Doctor Li, Madison Li. I'm the head researcher here in the Rivet City Science Lab. About twenty years ago your father was the lead researcher here." She informed me.

This was news to me. I had always thought that my father was born in the vault. "Are you saying he used to live outside of the vault?" I asked.

Madison looked surprised, "You mean he never told you? Well, I'm sure he had his reasons. But yes, he and Catherine used to live and work here at Rivet City. And in fact, you were born here as well."

I was shocked by what I was hearing. "I was born here? And you said my mother's name. Did you know her?" I couldn't help but change the subject to my mother. I didn't know much about her. She died giving birth to me. Dad always said she was the most beautiful woman he ever knew, and wished that I could have seen her.

"Yes I knew your mother. She was a brilliant scientist, just like James. Both of them worked in tandem and were nigh inseparable back when she was still alive. Your father loved her very much, and when she died, I suppose that is what made him leave….but that doesn't excuse the fact that he left all of our research and everything we had worked for!" her tone suddenly changed from calm to angry.

"What was it that you were working on?" I inquired.

Madison collected herself and continued her explanation. "We were working on a way to purify the water in the tidal basin. With that much pure water, we could deliver it to all of the settlements across the Capital Wasteland! We dubbed it 'Project Purity'. We were drawing close to a breakthrough when your mother passed away. James decided that he was going to leave us and all of the progress we had made. He took you in his arms, got some supplies together, and left. Shortly after we had no choice but to abandon the project. Without our leading scientist, we had no idea where to go. I've still tried to find a way to purify small amounts of water, but I haven't been too successful." when she had finished, she gave me a few minutes to take it all in.

"I'm sorry to hear about all of this. I can understand if you're angry at my father, but that doesn't change the fact that I still need to find him. Is he still here?" I asked, but I already had a feeling what my answer was going to be.

"I'm sorry Jason, but you're father left just yesterday. He came back to me and wanted to start up with Project Purity again. Can you believe that? After abandoning us and being gone all this time, he expects us to just up and follow along with him again." she started to sound irritated again, but continued, "He headed off to the Jefferson Memorial just southeast of here. That's where we did most of our research. I doubt he's still there, but that's your best bet." She told me.

I brushed my hands through my hair and sighed, "I figured I would still be one step behind him. Thanks for everything that you've told me. I think I'm going to need some time to think it all over before I head out to find my dad again." I told her.

As I started to walk past her, I felt her place her hand on my shoulder, "Where do you plan on staying?" she asked me.

"I hadn't really thought of that. I'm sure I'll manage though." I replied.

"You know, if you want, you can stay at my place. I can see that you've been through a lot in order to get where you are now. What kind of person would I be not to offer what help I could?" she said.

I was a little confused by her sudden change in demeanor, but I gladly accepted her offer. She told me to follow behind her, and she led me down a few corridors to a single door at the end of one of them. She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. She pulled off her lab coat when we stepped inside, and I closed the door behind me.

"I know it isn't much, but it's home." said Madison as she walked over to a sink and mirror attached to the wall. She let her hair fall down to shoulder level, which made her look more natural and attractive.

I cleared my throat from being so nervous, "So, umm, it must get pretty busy around here, no?" I asked trying to keep a conversation going.

"Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. It depends really. Some days we're stacked with work, and other days we have barely anything to do." was her reply. She then walked over to her fridge and pulled out two beers.

"You thirsty?" she asked.

I took one of the beers out of her hand and followed her to a small table in the corner of the room. The two of us continued to talk and drink with each other for some time. Something just seemed to click between us, as if we had known each other for years. We spoke of so many things. I think it was the alcohol that had loosened me up to a point where I would discuss things with her that I barely ever talked to my own dad about.

Before we knew it, we had talked well in to the evening. Madison got out of her chair and wobbled over to her cot and fell on it. Seeing someone like her in such a state just reassured me of how rough it really is living out here in the wastes. She turned over and looked at me. She scooted over and patted the mattress signaling for me to come over.

I took one last swig of my beer and slammed it on to the table. I reckoned she was acting this way mostly because she was so drunk. But I could also tell that she was probably a very lonely woman. Sure there were lots of people on this ship, but she's probably so busy with her work that she rarely has time for "extracurricular" activities.

I stood up and stumbled over to where she was lying and plopped down right next to her. She suddenly straddled me and began rubbing my chest with her hands. She undid the straps of my armor and ran her fingers across my bare chest until her fingers found the bullet wound.

She quickly pulled her hands away, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were wounded." she said.

I smiled, then took her hand and kissed it, "It's fine, it doesn't really bother me anymore." I replied.

She caressed the wound once again, "What happened?"

"A mutie scouting party caught me off guard a few days back, but they got theirs." I told her, and technically it was true, even though I hadn't been the one to put them in their place.

"And it's already healed this much?" she asked a bit puzzled.

I conjured the best smile I could, "Amazing what the right medicine can do nowadays, huh?"

She suddenly leaned in and planted a passionate kiss on my lips; it must've been the alcohol taking over. I placed my arms around her and kissed her back. We kissed for who knows how long, everything had sort of become a blur as the alcohol continued to stream through my system.

Madison sat back up and gave me the most seductive look. Silver had given me that same look, but something seemed different about hers. I could see the desperation in her eyes, and I couldn't blame her.

She slowly slid the straps of her blue dress over her shoulders, and down her arms until the upper half of the dress had been brought down to waist level. She sported a cute little lacy bra which covered her supple breasts. I leaned forward and placed my arms around her back and gently kissed her stomach as I undid her bra strap.

Her breasts were quite impressive for someone her age; I would grade them as C-cup, and they were fairly perky. I led my kisses up and up until my lips had found my way to the valley between her mounds. She let loose soft moans as I teased her, which only served to turn me on even more. She grasped my head and pressed it in to her chest as I continued to lick and tease her.

The sensation climbed higher and higher as we continued to explore each others bodies. I soon found my way to what would be the main course of the night; the sacred entrance between her thighs which begged to be filled to the brim with raw man power.

Madison positioned herself over my manhood and waited, and waited, and waited. Without warning, she lowered herself and completely engulfed it. We moaned together in tandem, and the rest of the night faded in to darkness.

I suddenly found myself awake again. I could feel the warmth of the bare flesh of the woman lying next to me. I smiled and ran my fingers through her hair. Streaks of silver ran through it, signifying her age and experience. My head was still pounding from all the liquor I had consumed from the night before. I sighed and placed a hand on my forehead. What a day I'd had. Cornered by mercenaries, chased down by Super Mutants, caught in a huge firefight, and to top it all off I had made love to a woman nearly twice my age whom I had just barely met. The last one didn't seem to upset me so much though.

Madison moved around a bit in her sleep and laid her arm across my chest. I smiled again and kissed her on the forehead. A shame I would have to leave such a beautiful creature behind to continue the search for my father. I figured she would understand though.

Her eyes slowly opened and looked up at me. She suddenly jolted in to a sitting position and covered herself with her blanket. "Oh my god…what happened?" she asked. I could tell she was still quite drowsy and probably still piecing together all that had transpired the previous night.

"Well, let's see. We talked, got drunk, and then had ravenous, guilt free sex with each other. I think that about covers it." I explained.

She rubbed her forehead and grunted. "I can't believe I just slept with my old colleague's son…" she mumbled to herself.

"Heh, it was great for me to." I said sarcastically in response to her comment.

"No, I didn't mean it like that, it was great for me too, and I think it's just what I needed to help get me out of this rut of depression I had been in. Still, I can't disregard the fact that we _were_ drunk and got caught in the moment." she replied.

I chuckled a bit, "That's good enough for me. No one ever said the circumstances had to be perfect for lovemaking."

She smiled warmly, and I could tell it was good enough for her as well. She looked so cute trying to hide her naked body from me even though I had explored every inch of it the previous night. She soon lightened up and let the blanket fall to her waist. She got up off the cot and walked over to an old wardrobe by the wall, shaking her ass at me the entire way. She pulled a white blouse and a knee length black skirt out, along with some new underwear.

She quickly dressed herself and did her hair back up in a bun. I objected and told her she should wear it down, but she just said she liked wearing it up. She applied some red lipstick and a dash of make-up. She walked to and fro in a frantic matter as she gathered up various assorted papers lying around her room, then threw her lab coat on and headed for the door.

"Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge, I've got some business to attend to. Meet me back at the Science Lab whenever you're finished. I have something I'd like to give you before you leave." she said, and with that, she rushed out the door.

A present, huh? I should make love to women I barely know more often. I made myself a quick breakfast, got dressed, readied all of my things, and then headed for the ship's lab. Madison was busy tinkering with a few odd looking devices when I started down the stairs.

"Here, these should help you on your quest to find James." she said as she handed me four of the devices she had been tinkering with.

"What are these things?" I asked. They were circular in shape, but had smaller hexagon shaped markings all over them, and neon green lights flickered on and off around the entire circumference.

"They're plasma grenades. Just push this little button right here and let 'em fly." she explained. "They should come in handy against most of the enemies you'll find out in the wastes."

I thanked her for the extra firepower and attempted to lean in and give her a goodbye kiss, but she quickly pulled away and eyed her coworkers, who thankfully hadn't noticed my advance. I understood, so I opted for a quick hug and then headed out.


	8. Chapter 8: The Purifier

**Chapter 8: The Purifier**

Right before I exited the lab, I looked back and saw the sad expression on Madison's face. She simply stood near one of her research tables with her eyes closed, all alone once again. My heart sank at the sight of this, I would have to make sure to return to her and give her a proper thanks for these new grenades.

Upon exiting Rivet City I glanced to the east and could make out the building Madison had told me about. It wasn't too far off, would probably be an hours walk at most. I grabbed on to my shoulder and twirled my arm a bit. It was starting to feel less sore, maybe it had healed enough for me to use my trusty Assault Rifle again.

After jumping down from the scaffolding across the main bridge outside the city I headed towards a broken down wall to see if my shoulder was up to taking the kick from my rifle. I pressed the stock against my shoulder and aimed at the wall. The rifle kicked against my body and I cringed in pain. But it wasn't a terrible pain it caused. It would be bearable enough in a firefight.

As I moved ever closer to my destination, my mind kept going back to Madison. The image of her beautiful face flashed over and over again. I felt strange, I had slept with a few other women since I've been out here in the harsh of the wastes, but I never found myself thinking about them once I went on my way. Yet here I was thinking about this older woman who for some reason made me feel like I could take on the entire world whenever I thought of her.

My thoughts suddenly turned away from her as I had arrived at the memorial building faster than I had calculated; now the only problem was how to get inside. The main doors had been completely sealed shut, and many yellow pipes protruded from the building and ran in to the Tidal Basin. There were also many scaffolds built around the building which had ramped access points.

I jogged up one of the ramps to get a better view of the area, but I still couldn't see much. I continued along the perimeter until another ramp led down the other side of the building. Here I found a single door sticking out of the wall. A small metal plaque on it read: Jefferson Memorial Gift Shop. I suppose this would be the best route for now.

Upon entry I soon realized that there were Super Mutants on the prowl. I checked the clip in my gun, twenty-one bullets. I looked in to my pack for my reserve ammo. Thirty-three 5.56 mm bullets and fifteen 10mm. Great, just great. In all my rushing out to find my dad I had completely forgotten to resupply on ammo.

I swore at myself under my breath, but I knew I had to continue on. The first mutant I came across didn't notice me at first, so I took this as my cue and unloaded a single bullet from my pistol in to its giant cranium. I glanced around to make sure I hadn't alerted any of the others.

When no other mutants showed up, I continued down the long corridor until I came to an open room at my right. Two mutants stood behind a set of sandbags, and even worse, a single ceiling mounted turret scanned the room for hostiles.

I reached in to my pack for something to use, anything. A sneer came across my face as my hand brushed across one of the plasma grenades Madison had given me. I pulled it out and looked for the activation button. I pressed it, and a low pitched humming noise came from the ball of death. I lobbed it over the sandbags and it landed right at the mutant's feet. The mutants screamed aloud but could do little else as the grenade erupted in to a bright green light.

When the room went dark again nothing remained of the mutants, but the turret had sustained no damage from the blast.

Shit, I was in a real predicament now. My guns weren't powerful enough to pierce through the metal the turret had been constructed out of. Maybe a console or wall panel that I could use to shut it down loomed nearby. I found no such objects, but instead, I found a giant metal plate leaning against the wall further along the corridor. I presumed it to be thick enough to take the turrets bullets until I could get beneath it and shoot out the wiring.

I got a good grip on it and placed it directly at my front and headed back to the room where the mutants had been. The turrets sensors kicked up as I entered and started to unload in to the metal plate I carried. As I had judged, the plate could take the bullets without being fully punctured and prevented me from becoming a human pin cushion. I was directly below the turret now, and it couldn't aim low enough to continue unloading one me. I spotted a few wires in the darkness and shot a few bullets from my rifle up at them.

A few seconds later the turret made a loud buzzing noise and then shut itself down. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and dropped the metal plate on to the floor. Now finding any traces that my father had been here became my next task. I rummaged through the many desks and file cabinets within the building but found nothing of use.

I found another door which read: Memorial Rotunda, and entered. Within I found a massive, circular machine which surrounded a brass statue in the center. There were many strange looking terminals and other smaller machines within the big one. I could hear the sound of running water and soon realized that the center of the machine had been filled to the top with water, and a smaller pool ran beneath the catwalks which led up to some of the terminals.

I carefully made my way up and looked for any trace of my father. It wasn't long before I found a few audio tapes lying on one of the smaller data processing machines. I plugged one of them in to my Pip Boy and turned the volume to the highest level. My heart filled with joy as the sound of my fathers voice rang out over the sound of the running water.

He spoke of how rundown the machine was, and he also talked about how he had tried to coax his former colleagues in to helping him again. Surprisingly, he mentioned me in the tape as well, said he regretted that he could never bring himself to tell me the truth and was sorry for having to leave me behind in the vault.

When the tape ran out I pulled it out and popped another one in. This time he spoke of different places where he might find something called a G.E.C.K. for the main purifying system within the memorial. Said this contraption was just what he needed in order to purify such a large amount of water at once. He sounded so overjoyed when he talked about finding someone who might now where to find one.

Once again the tape ran out, and I popped the third one in. This time my dad used a serious tone and spoke of a "Vault 112". Said some genius scientist by the name of Dr. Brawne ran the vault and would probably be the one to see about locating a G.E.C.K. He mentioned mom and said he was going to see her dream fulfilled. The last thing he mentioned was hearing something moving around outside the rotunda, so he took another way out of the building.

The tape ran off in to static, and all I could do was stand around in silence. I should've been happy that I knew my father still lived, but I couldn't shake off the burning sense of dread within. Would my father make it to this Vault 112, and even if he did, who's to say that the doctor he mentioned wasn't some crazed loon who would try and use him in some crazy experiment?

I shoved these thoughts out of my mind and just hoped that he still lived. I had no idea where to go from here. I knew the name of the place where my feather had headed off to, but I had no knowledge of just where in the wasteland it was.

I finally decided to head back to Rivet City and ask anyone there if they knew where to find Vault 112. I slowly trotted along the corridor back towards the exit and kept telling myself my father still lived.

I had to shield my eyes from the sunlight when I threw open the exit door, and when they adjusted, I was shocked by what I saw.

Four men clad in strange looking armor were waiting for me with their weapons drawn. Two of the men had some sort of tesla pack strapped to their back which emitted green bolts in to their armor, and another wore a brownish officer's uniform

"Drop your weapons vault dweller." the officer ordered.

_How did he know that?_

"I said drop your weapons!" he shouted.

I slowly unstrapped my assault rifle and lowered it to the ground, and then un-holstered my pistol and threw it at his feet, "There, I'm unarmed, now what do you want?" I asked.

The officer grinned, "Not so fast, drop your bag, who knows what surprises you might have for us in there.

_Damn, I had hoped he wouldn't think of that_.

I tossed my pack to the ground and threw my hands in to the air.

"Alright, now tell me what this is about." I demanded.

"You're the kid from Vault 101 are you not?" he interrogated.

I nodded apprehensively, "Yeah, what of it?"

The officer then looked to his guards and whispered something I couldn't hear.

"Colonel Autumn would like a word with you kid. You're exploits have caught his ear, and he's become very interested in you."

I shook my head, "Sorry, but I've got more pressing matters to attend to, maybe some other time." I responded.

When I tried to walk off the armed guards stepped in my path. "Would you tell your lap dogs to move please?" I said as politely as possible.

I received the butt of a gun across my jaw in response which caught me off guard and sent me to my knees.

The officer sneered, "The U.S. government doesn't have time for rain checks son. Colonel Autumn is President John Henry Eden's right hand man, and it would be unwise to keep him waiting." he barked.

I spat a bit of blood on the ground, "What's all this talk of a president and government? I thought they were wiped out when the nukes fell?"

"Ah, the ignorance of these vault dwellers. No son, the U.S. government is still very much alive, and we still have a president at the helm helping to keep this country together." the officer told me.

"Well, it looks like you guys are doing a bang up job!" I spat sarcastically. I received another blow to the face, and the officer knelt down in front of me.

He pressed the barrel of his weapon in to my mouth, "Son, you're trying my patience. One more word out of you and my finger might slip across the trigger of this here plasma pistol, you get me?" he said in a threatening tone.

I simply grinned, and then butted him in the nose with my head. He staggered back, and I quickly grabbed my Assault Rifle off the ground and rolled behind a nearby boulder.

"That's it, you're fucked kid! I don't give a shit if Autumn wants you alive, I'm going to rip that fucking smirk right off your face you hear!" the officer yelled as he fired off a few shots in to the rock.

I responded by firing blindly in to them. "Fuck, my leg!" I heard one of the guards yell as a bullet tore through his thigh.

"Get over there and kill that little fucker!" the officer ordered, and I could hear the sound of the loose pebbles crunching beneath their heavy metal boots.

Suddenly, a blurry figure leapt forth from atop the scaffolding and landed on top of one of the officer's guards. A shot rang out, and the guard fell to the ground. Gunfire erupted from the group as they tried to take out their attacker. Another agonizing cry rang out over the air.

"God damn it take him down!" I heard the officer yell.

Another shot, and another guard crumpled to the scorched earth below.

I glanced over the boulder and saw the Mysterious Stranger standing there with his Magnum pointed at the Enclave officer.

"Fuc…" before the officer could finish his sentence he received a bullet right between the eyes.

I suddenly found myself staring at an extended hand. I took a hold of it and the stranger pulled me on to my feet. I was now standing face to face with my guardian angel once again, only now I couldn't find anything to say to him.

"Just who are you?" I finally blurted out, but didn't really expect any sort of audible answer.

"It's not important." he said, which caught me off guard. Up until now he had never spoken a word. His voice was deep and gruff.

"What is important is that you remain alive." he added.

"Why, what's so great about me? What do I have to offer this fucked up world we live in?" I said bluntly.

"You're the last, best hope of humanity kid." he responded.

I couldn't believe what I had just been told. It had to be a joke. Me, the last, best hope of humanity? What a bunch of bullshit. What could I do for humanity that someone with more experience couldn't do?

Without even realizing it I had burst in to laughter. I dropped my gun to the ground and slapped myself on the forehead. The laughter soon died down when I noticed the cold stare the stranger had thrown my way.

"Laugh all you want kid, but very soon you'll know just what I'm talking about." He then lit himself a cigarette and turned to leave.

"Wait, if I need to be alive, why don't you come to my aid every time I'm in trouble!?" I yelled after him.

"You can't expect to learn anything if I'm saving your ass all the time now can you?" he yelled back in response.

I smiled at this and watched him as he walked off and then disappeared from sight.  
I picked my guns off of the ground, as well as my pack. I pulled a white piece of cloth out and wiped the blood off my face. The side of my face had become pretty swollen, and my jaw hurt like a bitch, but I knew it would heal on its own.

I decided to head back for Rivet City and see Madison for some "medical treatment". A few of the guards greeted me upon my arrival, but I said nothing in return and headed straight for the science lab.


	9. Chapter 9: What Next?

**As with Chapter 7, the M rating is apparent in this chapter as well.**

**Chapter 9: What Next?**

I found Madison fumbling with various devices when she entered my line of sight. She didn't even notice me until I threw my arms around her from behind. She objected, but I didn't care what anyone else thought, I needed some comforting right about now.

She turned around and wore a look of shock, "Oh my god, what happened to you?" she asked as she ran her hand over the swollen side of my face.

"A bunch of guys who said they were part of some government group called 'The Enclave' ambushed me after I exited the memorial." I told her.

The look on my face told me she knew who they were, "The Enclave? What were they doing there?"

I shook my head, "They said they were there to escort me to some military Colonel they called Autumn." I explained.

"And you managed to escape with your life? I'm impressed Jason." She complimented, but I didn't deserve it. I wouldn't even be standing here if it weren't for _him_.

"Yeah, and I could use someone with your medical expertise to treat my wounds." I said as I pressed my forehead against hers.

She looked around and attempted to push me away once again, "Jason, I told you, not in public."

"Well then perhaps you could treat me in your private quarters?" I suggested.

She smiled and then took me by the wrist, "God I wish I had the same level of energy as you. Last night just wasn't enough, huh?" she then sighed, "Hmm, just what kind of man have I gotten mixed up with?" she said to herself.

When we entered her room I immediately tore her blouse open and buried my face in her chest. The softness of her breasts seemed to melt away all of the troubles and worries that I carried. She giggled softly, "Easy there tiger, you came here for medical treatment, remember?"

I looked up from her chest, "This is all the medicine I require doctor." I said, and then went back to what I had been doing.

We moved over to the bed and I pulled her skirt down to her feet, and she kicked it at the wall. She smiled seductively and waited for me to make the next move. I took her panties by the sides and pulled them down to reveal her womanhood. I took in the sight and smell of it, which stimulated my animalistic urges.

I quickly removed my pants and armor and positioned myself in front of her opening. I took a hold of her legs and proceeded to give her the best tonguing she would ever receive. She grabbed on to my head with one hand and moaned loudly as I ate her out. I could tell she would reach her climax soon, but I wanted to experience it with her.

I brought my manhood to her flower and immediately dove in. I felt a fire like no other as I pumped in and out of her and leaned in to give her a kiss.

I looked down at the woman I was pounding on the bed and something suddenly clicked within me. All of these things I had been feeling, the fact that I couldn't take my mind off of her after our first encounter, the way she managed to light my fire unlike any of the other women I had been with…I was falling in love with her.

"Madison, I…" I couldn't finish my sentence, however, as I had finally reached my breaking point.

I gritted my teeth and gave a few last hard thrusts, and then released deep inside of her.

I then collapsed next to her on the bed and breathed heavily. Both of us were sweating profusely. I gave her another gentle kiss on the lips and then pulled her body on top of mine.

"I…I think I'm falling for you." I admitted to her.

Her eyes widened a bit, she probably figured that I had just been using her as a relief from my troubles and had no feelings beyond that.

She responded by placing her head on my chest and taking my hand in hers. The two of us just lied there for the longest time until our exhaustion caused us to drift off to a calm and peaceful sleep.

I woke up around one in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep because I had so much on my mind.

_You could stay here and start a new life with Madison._

_ But what about your father? Doesn't he require your utmost attention?_

_ For all you know he could be dead._

_ No, he's still alive; I refuse to think that way._

_ What about Madison? You've probably knocked her up after that last round. What kind of man would you be if you left her again?_

I placed my hands over my ears and shut my eyes.

_Shut up! SHUT UP!_

I got out of bed, slipped back in to my pants, and headed out in to the hall. I walked up three flights of stairs at the end and soon found myself on the top deck of the ship outside. I walked over to the railing on the side and leaned over it.

I hated having to choose between the woman I was falling in love with and the man who had raised me all by himself. The man who had waited on me hand and foot nearly all my life. The man who had taught me all of the good morals that I held dear.

The right choice was so blaringly obvious, but I just didn't want to have to make it.

"Jason? Is everything alright?" a robed Madison asked as she entered on to the ship deck.

"Madison, what are you doing out here?" I asked to avoid answering her question.

"Uh-uh, you first." she said.

_Ha, she's a quick one._

I turned away from her and drooped over the railing again, "I don't know what to do. I know that I need to go out and find my father and make sure he is safe but…" I trailed off and turned back to her, "I don't want to have to leave you behind again." I finished.

She placed her arms around my waist and smiled, "It's alright Jason. I understand how much your father means to you. If you want to go and bring him back to safety than I support you one-hundred percent."

I felt a bit relieved at hearing her say this, but it didn't change the fact that I still didn't want to leave her behind.

I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, "Come on, let's go back to bed." I took her by the hand and the two of us walked back to her room side by side.

The next morning I knew that I would need to leave as soon as possible if I wanted to catch up with my dad. Madison saw me off at the bridge out front. I made sure to give her my radio frequency if she needed to reach me. We stood in each others embrace for a few minutes before I finally gave her a goodbye kiss and set off.

"Be careful, and bring James back safe!" she yelled to me as I descended the ramp to the bottom.

I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed the Trade Caravan walking nearby. I still needed to stock up on ammo, so I headed over and decided to trade. They didn't have much, but it would be sufficient to see me through to Megaton. I decided to head back there to ask around and see if anyone knew where Vault 112 was.

After nearly four days of travelling across the wastes the familiar sight of Megaton's towering entrance came in to view.

Deputy Weld gave me a warm welcome, and when I walked through the gates, the townspeople hailed my return. Lucas Simms approached me and shook my hand, "Well, well, the prodigal son returns! We've heard more of your exploits over the radio my friend!" he greeted.

"Yeah, my house still mine?" I asked sarcastically.

"Haha, of course it is, you headed there now?" he asked.

"Maybe I'll stop by Moriarty's for a quick drink and check on the rumor mill." I told him.

Simms stroked his full beard, "What type of information you lookin' for kid?"

"I need to find another Vault, 112 to be exact. Know anyone who might be able to lead me in the right direction?" I asked.

The old sheriff pondered for a moment, "Can't say that I can. Sorry I ain't any help." he replied.

"That's fine, maybe someone up there will know something." and with that I bid the sheriff good day and headed to Moriarty's.

As usual Gob stood at the counter attempting to scrub the dirt and grime from his shot glasses. "Hey smoothskin, long time no see!" he greeted in his raspy ghoul voice.

I always liked Gob, even though his ghoulified appearance intimidated or disgusted most of the patrons, he didn't bother me, and I considered him a good friend.

"Hey Gob. I've just been out looking for dear old dad." I replied.

"Still haven't found him yet?" he asked as he continued his scrubbing.

I shook my head, "Well yes and no. I know where he's headed, but I don't know where the place is located." I told him.

"What's the name of this place?" he asked.

"Vault 112, you wouldn't happen to know where it is would you?"

He shook his head, "Sorry smooths- I mean Jason, I couldn't tell you." He replied.

"Don't worry about it. How about serving me up some whiskey?" he then handed me an unopened bottle and I handed him the ten caps owed.

I undid the cap and held the bottle out, "Cheers." I said, and then took a large swig.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say you were looking for Vault 112?" a voice asked from behind me.


	10. Chapter 10: Lead the Way

**Chapter 10: Lead the Way**

"I'm sorry, but did you just say you were looking for Vault 112?" a voice asked from behind me.

I turned around in my bar stool and was greeted by the sight of an older man standing before me. He had long brown hair along with a moustache and soul patch. He wore sunglasses over his eyes and donned a Merc Adventurer outfit. A silenced 10mm pistol hung from his belt, as well as a combat knife and a couple frag grenades.

"That's right." I replied.

"Well you're in luck kid because it just so happens that the location is known to yours truly." he told me.

I nearly fell out of my seat upon hearing this, "You're serious? You know how to get to Vault 112? Please, can you show me how to get there?" I begged.

The man laughed deeply, "Of course, for the right price that is." he replied.

I didn't care if I would have to pay this man a thousand caps. I just needed to find my father.

"Name your price." I said.

"Two hundred and fifty caps. Half up front, half when I get you to the Vault. Sounds about right, doesn't it?" he asked, and I nodded.

I handed him half of his payment and we headed outside. "Oh by the way, name's Kirk. I'm an adventurer by trade, but I do a bit of barterin' and fetchin' things for people on the side." he explained.

I shook his hand in friendship as we walked towards the town gate, "I'm Jason from Vault 101." I told him.

He lit up a cigar and laughed, "Yeah, I've hearda you kid. You're the reason GNR is broadcasting throughout the entire wasteland again. I hope you can live up to your name on this journey of ours."

The large metal gates shifted open at our front and we walked out in to the wastes. "I'll try not to. So how far is Vault 112 from here?" I questioned.

He took a quick puff of his cigar, "Bout three days walk. I've been there a few times before, not a bad place to get away from the troubles of the wastes."

He glanced over at me and raised his brow, "What business you got there friend, if you don't mind me askin."

"My father's there. I've been searching for him for a little over four weeks now and I finally know where he is." I explained.

The man laughed to himself once again and we continued our trek under the scorching sun. We made camp that night in a rundown gas station we stumbled upon. There were a few mole rats waiting for us within, but we made short work of them. We even found a few medical supplies as well as a few other useful items.

When morning rolled around we ate a light breakfast and set off once again. As we were walking through a particularly rocky area Kirk stopped and threw up his hand signaling for me to stop. He signaled to lay low and we crouched near some boulders.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"Radscorps." he replied.

We cautiously crept through the rocky outcropping, but stopped again when we heard the clicking of their legs against the hard rock.

"What exactly _are_ Radscorpions?_" _I asked, although I think I already had a pretty good image in my head.

Kirk sneered, "You'll find out soon enough kid."

The incessant clicking continued as we picked up the pace once again. "Keep it up, I think we just need to head around this bend right here and we'll be home free." he told me. I wish he had been telling the truth.

I nearly fell on my ass when we spotted three of the biggest damn scorpions I'd ever seen roaming around just in front of us. They looked just like normal scorpions, but the radiation had caused them to grow about five or so feet in length and their exoskeletons were a dark green color.

_I guess I wasn't too far off in guessing what they looked like after all._

They used their massive claws to rummage through the dirt for anything to eat. Luckily they hadn't noticed us yet, but they were sitting right in the middle of the only way out of the area.

"Good, they're just the smaller ones." Kirk said with a sigh of relief.

"The smaller ones? You mean to tell me these things can get bigger than this?" I asked in a low voice.

"You bet yer ass they do kid, and you'd better hope we don't come across one either." he replied and then cocked his silenced 10mm.

He popped a few shots off and killed one that had been straggling away from the group and managed to not alert the other two.

He pulled a frag grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, "Frag out!" he shouted, and then lobbed the grenade over the rock. A few scorpion parts flew past me after the grenade went off.

Kirk threw his arm up in a silent huzzah, but I knew our troubles weren't over when I heard a low hissing noise coming from our left. I looked over and noticed what was now the biggest scorpion I had ever seen. This Radscorpion was about three times the size of the ones Kirk had just eradicated and it didn't look too happy about it either.

Kirk barely jumped out of the way as the giant Radscorpion smashed one of its claws down on him. It tore a huge chunk out of the rock with a single blow. I sat there in shock, unable to move or react. I felt Kirk grab on to my shoulder and I snapped back to reality.

"I guess it was just wishful thinkin' when I hoped we wouldn't come across one of these things." he said.

The two of us sprinted out of the rocky outcropping with the giant Radscorpion right on our tails. We jumped away from each other as its barb tipped tail slammed down between us.

When I hit the ground I unloaded nearly a whole clip of 5.56 ammo in to the overgrown insect. That only seemed to infuriate it even more, and it gurgled loudly as it turned its full attention on me.

I scurried away when I saw both of its claws coming down on me. Dust and debris flew up in to the air as they made contact with the ground. I hurried to my feet and took aim once more. This time I managed to tear through its tail and sever it from its body.

Fluids bubbled and frothed from its gaping maw as it thrashed about the hillside. Kirk suddenly leapt on to its back and drew his combat knife from its sheath.

"Yee-haw!!" he shouted in a crazed state.

He used the knife to carve away the carapace atop its head and then drove it in to the soft tissue lying beneath. With one final gurgle the giant insect reared back and then fell lifeless on the ground.

Kirk climbed off of it and wiped the blood from his knife. "Hot damn, it's been some time since I wrestled with one of these creatures." he said. I could still hear the excitement in his voice.

I threw my assault rifle over my back and the approached Kirk as he searched on the ground for something.

"What exactly are you looking for?" I asked curiously.

"The tail." was all he said.

When he finally found it, he used his knife to cut the stinger away and then placed it in his pack.

"What's that for?"

"Radscorpion poison is very strong. I like to coat my knife in it, makes it easier taking down certain enemies. One of the tricks you learn from spending your whole life out here." he replied.

It wasn't until that point that I realized that this guy knew _just_ what he was doing, and I felt a little more comfortable travelling alongside him.

"Well, no sense loitering around here anymore, let's get going kid." Kirk said and the two of us picked up our normal pace.

We met no more resistance for the rest of the day and made camp inside an empty cave imbedded within a sheer rock cliff. I felt a bit uncomfortable leaning up against the hard stone, but I soon grew used to it and managed to get a little shut eye.

"Wake up kid." Kirk said as he shook me from my slumber.

_Morning already._

I sat up and stretched my arms out and then walked outside the cave entrance and cracked my back.

Kirk slammed a water bottle against my chest, "Drink up, I can tell it's gonna be extra hot today." he advised.

I downed all of the water as fast as I could and tossed the bottle to the ground. Only another day left until we reached Vault 112, and hopefully, my dad.

At about mid day Kirk eyed me and then cleared his throat, "So you told me that yer father set out for 112, and you said you were both from another Vault, 101. What exactly drove you from yer Vault in the first place, and what caused you to be separated from each other?" he pried.

It was a long story, but I figured we still had a ways to go so I would humor him. I then proceeded to tell him in exact detail what had transpired within the Vault, and everything that had happened since I started out on my quest to locate my father (with the exception of Madison and the stranger).

A good two hours had passed since I started my story, and when I finally finished with what I had been doing just before I returned to Megaton he just walked along in silence.

"Damn, you've sure been through a lot of shit since you stepped out in to the wastes haven't you? I admit kid, when I first started travelling with you I didn't think too much of you, but now, I gotta say you've earned a lot of respect from this old wastelander. Not just from your story either, but also how you handled yourself back when we fought them Radscorps." he told me before taking a swig of purified water.

I smiled to myself and didn't say anything in response. I must be doing good work out here to earn the respect of someone as experienced as Kirk.

"There it is!" Kirk shouted as he pointed to an old gas station mini-mart just on the horizon. The sun had just about set by this time and there were only a few rays shining over the horizon. How Kirk managed to spot the tiny building from that far off was beyond me.

_Wait, what does he mean we're here? I thought I told him to show me the way to Vault 112, not some old mini-mart._

"Just what is this Kirk? I told you to take me to Vault 112, not a gas station out in the middle of nowhere!" I shouted in an irritated tone.

Kirk just laughed in response and the winked at me, "Don't worry kid, I haven't played ya. Just follow me inside and I'll show you where you need to go."

I was a bit ticked, but I figured he probably wasn't lying. We headed inside the mini-mart and promptly took care of the Radroaches inside. I still couldn't see how we had "arrived" at our destination.

My doubts were soon thrown aside however when Kirk threw a switch on the wall. A hidden panel on the floor suddenly slid open and revealed a long staircase heading down. We trekked down the stairs and my eyes went wide with excitement as I beheld the Vault door just feet in front of me.

"See kid, I told you I'd lead ya where ya needed to go!" Kirk said as he slapped me on the back.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and then handed him the rest of the caps I owed him. "Thanks Kirk, thanks a million." I said gratefully.

"You sure you don't need someone to accompany you inside?" he asked, but I simply shook my head and held my hand out, which he took happily.

"I hope you find what yer lookin' for kid. It's been a pleasure travelling with you." He said, and then turned around and walked back up the stairs.

_Good luck_ I said in the back of my mind.

I collected myself, checked my ammo, and then pulled the switch on the panel to the left of the circular Vault door. With a few loud creaks, the door was pulled off its hinges and slowly rolled to the side.


	11. Chapter 11: Dad

**Chapter 11: Dad**

As I walked inside it surprised me to see how well kempt this Vault was. It reminded me a lot of my own Vault. Memories from those days came rushing back in to my head as I trekked further in.

I nearly had a heart attack as one of the doors slid open. On the other side a sizeable robot lied in wait. I instinctively pulled my weapon on it, but hesitated firing on it when I realized it meant me no harm.

"Welcome to Vault 112 citizen, you are exactly 277 years overdue. Please put on your Vault 112 jumpsuit and head for the pod room. If you do not have a jumpsuit I can issue you one." the robot chimed in its synthetic voice.

"No, I don't have a jumpsuit." I responded, and within seconds a freshly pressed jumpsuit ejected from the robots chest. I picked it up and unfolded it.

_Wow, it looks like a perfect fit._

I found a small room where I could change in to my new jumpsuit and then placed all of my belongings (except for my pistol, which I strapped to my thigh) on a rectangular table in said room.

I walked back out in to the hall, where the robot greeted me once again. "Please, allow me show you to the pod room."

I followed closely behind it until we came upon a giant room at the center of the Vault. There were many pods placed in a circle around a central nervous system which protruded from the ceiling.

As the robot led me through the room, I felt an eerie feeling come over me. Inside each pod lied a single person who I would have first thought to be dead were it not for the vital signs flashing across the different terminals attached to the pods.

My heart suddenly skipped a beat when I walked past a certain pod which contained an all too familiar face….dad. I pressed my hands and face against the glass when I saw him and called out to him.

"Dad, dad it's me, it's Jason!" I cried, but it was no use.

"Please step away from the virtual reality pod citizen." the robot warned.

"That's my father you stupid robot, I need to get him out of here!" I shouted, and then lifted up my pant leg revealing the hidden pistol.

"I can't allow you to do that human. Relinquish your firearm or I will have no choice but to use lethal force." it threatened.

"Fuck you, I'm getting my father out of here whether you like it or not!" I yelled, and then unloaded a couple rounds in to a part of its head that contained what looked like a human brain.

The glass surrounding the brain shattered and a clear fluid leaked out. The robot twitched a few times and spouted some gibberish in a high pitched voice before finally shutting down.

I found a control panel on the left side of the pod and noticed a button labeled "Eject Sequence". I figured this would be the best way to get my father out of the pod, so I crossed my fingers and slammed my fist down.

The upper half of the pod slowly slid open and released a bunch of pressurized air from within. When it completely opened up, the shackles around my dad's wrists, ankles, and stomach were released, and the leather seat he was lying in slowly lifted him in to a sitting position.

He lay completely still for a good five minutes, and had it been any longer, I would have presumed him dead. I placed a hand on his chest, "Please, wake up dad…" I whispered.

Just then, his eyes suddenly blinked open and he looked around in confusion. His vision must've been blurry because when his eyes settled on me he didn't recognize me at first.

His expression changed from puzzled to a look of pure joy when he finally realized who was standing before him.

"Son…what are you doing here? I thought I left you in the Vault?" he asked as his expression changed once again to an upset one.

I threw my arms around him and pressed my head in to his chest, "I came looking for you." I countered. I probably had tears running down my cheeks from how overjoyed I was feeling. After nearly four months of searching and always being one step behind, I finally found him, I finally found my dad.

He hugged me back and sighed, "Why did you follow after me son, I wanted you to stay behind and live a normal life back in the Vault." he told me.

"I didn't have a choice dad. The Overseer went apeshit and blamed me for your leaving the Vault. Were it not for Amata's help I might've been killed!" I explained.

Dad hugged me tighter and then looked in to my eyes and smiled, "Well, I'm just glad your safe kiddo. Come on, let's get out of this place."

I helped him out of the pod and he stumbled with his footing at first, but he got used to it soon enough. He placed his arm around my shoulder and we walked slowly towards the exit.

"By the way, did you get the information you came for?" I asked him as we trudged along.

"Yes, but it wasn't easy. Dr. Brawne is a mad genius. He has all these people hooked up to a virtual reality simulator, of which he is the Overseer. I knew the only way I could get to him would be plugging myself in. It was a long and arduous process of doing all sorts of menial tasks before he finally told me what I wanted to know. He told me of three other Vaults that were issued a G.E.C.K. but he didn't know exactly which ones still had one. So I got the information, but Brawne refused to let me leave. He said I was part of his world and would remain here for the rest of my life." he explained.

"I'm glad you showed up when you did son, because I didn't know how I was going to get out of there." he added.

I smiled and shook my head, "I'm glad too." I replied.

I made sure to re-gather my belongings and change back in to my normal attire. When we re-emerged in to the Capitol Wasteland night had fallen. I checked my Pip Boy, and it read 9:23 pm. It would be another three days before we reached Megaton, and another four days or so from there before we reached Rivet City once again.

We took our time on the trek back, making sure to avoid sticky situations whenever possible. We did happen upon one group of roving Raiders who spotted us before we spotted them, but I made short work of them when they threatened to kill my old man. Dad seemed a little shocked at seeing how skilled I had become in the short amount of time I had been out here.

It actually took us a little over four days to reach Megaton again, and Simms was more than happy to treat me and my father to a drink at Moriarty's.

We ate a heavy dinner, it had been some time since I had eaten anything worth noting, and even longer for my dad.

We spent an extra day in Megaton to collect ourselves and resupply for the second part of our journey. Dad and I caught up on all that had happened since the both of us had been out. He went in to depth about mom and how it was _her_ dream to purify all of the water in the wasteland.

I laughed to myself, I should have guessed it from the beginning. Mom's favorite passage from the Bible. Revelations 21:6, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."

With a content smile on my face, I lay back in my bed and closed my eyes. Things were finally starting to look up.

When we arrived at Rivet City dad said he wanted to talk to Madison one more time to see if she wouldn't rejoin him at the purifier. I had to contain my excitement upon seeing her again, I didn't want dad to know, and I knew she didn't either.

It took some time, but after a few hours of talking, yelling, stomping around, and negotiating, my father finally convinced Madison and the others to follow him to the purifier where they could pick up their research once again.

We walked single file towards the memorial with myself at the front as a lookout. The guards at Rivet City told us that the Super Mutants had increased their activity in the area.

Lucky for us we met none along the way. Upon reaching the memorial everyone lined up just outside the entrance to the gift shop. I counted the heads and then told everyone to wait outside while I went in and made sure everything was safe. I had cleaned the Mutants out of the upper half of the memorial, but dad told me of the maintenance tunnels beneath that I had yet to search.

I cautiously made my way down to the lower levels and drew my Assault Rifle from my back. I could hear voices up ahead, Super Mutants no doubt. Two of the brutes were standing around a barrel filled with fire and talked to each other in their slow, childlike manner.

I unloaded in to the nearest one and blew its arm off. It let loose a blood curdled scream and fell to the floor as the other one readied its Hunting Rifle.

_Bang!_

I cringed in pain as the bullet grazed me ear.

"Fucking die you abomination!" I screamed as I pumped a few rounds in to the brute's chest. It staggered back and loaded another round in to its gun.

_Bang!_

The bullet hit the wall just inches from my head. I ran forward and butted the mutant in the face as it attempted to load another round. I smashed its face again and again until it fell to the ground and gurgled its last breath.

I heard deep, bellowing laughter coming from the other mutant who's arm I had blown off. I walked up to it and placed the heel of my boot on its throat. "What are you laughing at you freak?" I asked as I pointed the barrel of my rifle at its head.

It laughed louder and looked down at something it clutched in its remaining hand. My eyes widened when I realized that it was holding a live grenade, and I turned to run away as fast as I could.

The grenade went off with a deafening _BOOM!_ And sent me front first in to the wall. I hit the ground and grasped my chest. I could barely breathe, and the only noise I could hear was a feint ringing sound in my ears.

I looked back and saw a pile of gibs where the mutant had previously been. God damn it, I can't believe that freak had caught me off guard and nearly killed me. I grunted aloud and continued to gasp for air. The room suddenly started to spin and the ringing noise picked up in ambience. I checked my health status on my Pip Boy and the little indicator showed my head, chest, and left arm flashing red.

My armor had been almost completely ruined from taking the impact of the blast. It had been singed to hell and I could even see some burnt patches of skin through it. I spat up a bit of blood and coughed as I attempted to get myself up off the floor. I finally managed to get on my feet and leaned up against the wall. I took a Stimpak from my bag and injected it in to my shoulder. I felt a little relieved as the contents flowed in to my body to help me heal. I took another out and injected it in to my side.

The feeling returned to my left arm and the ringing in my head had ceased, I held on to my side and limped off in search of more mutants. Although I wasn't too sure if I would last against another batch.

I found one final mutant roaming the steel corridors of the underground. It ambushed me from behind and smacked me in the back with a large plank of wood. I stumbled forward and threw my hands out to break my fall. I turned around as quickly as possible and fired a single shot from my pistol, which caught the brute right between the eyes.

I laid my head back and moaned in pain. That blow had brought back the ringing sensation and my back and chest burned with such a fire like I had never felt before.

My thoughts suddenly turned to Madison, and I felt a little comforted knowing that by making sure I cleared this place of any danger I was keeping her, and the others, safe.

I got to my feet once again and headed back to tell the others that the coast was clear. My father and Madison both threw their hands over their mouths when I re-emerged from within the memorial.

My dad threw his arm over my shoulder and helped me to lean against the outside wall. "Oh my god son, what happened in there!?" he asked concernedly.

I spat up some more blood and chuckled, "Damn mutant nearly blew me to bits with a hidden grenade." I said in a low, raspy voice.

I could tell Madison was very concerned, but she did her best to hide her true feelings and helped my dad patch me up. They treated my burns, bandaged my ear, and gave me a shot of Med-X to boost my energy levels.

I placed one arm over my dad's shoulder and another over one of the other maintenance guys who had followed us from Rivet City and we all headed in to the memorial.

When we were inside I was placed across a wooden bench where I could recuperate a little from my injuries. Everyone then went about their different tasks of getting the data terminals up and running and cleaning the place up.

When Madison was sure no one was around she knelt down beside me and planted a big kiss on my lips.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me as she ran her fingers through my matted hair.

"Better now." I said with a smile on my face.

"Jason, I have something I've been meaning to tell you since you came back. I'm…" she suddenly cut herself off when she heard someone's footsteps coming from around the corner. She stood up and placed her thumb and index finger around my wrist pretending to read my pulse.

"Madison, everything alright?" my father asked as he came in to our presence.

"Everything's fine James, just making sure your son is recovering properly." she lied.

My dad raised his brow, but his expression soon returned to normal, "Mind if I borrow him for a while?" he asked, and Madison nodded.

I sat myself up on the bench and my dad held his hand out and helped me to my feet. "I know you've been through a lot already son but I had a few tasks in mind and who better to do it than you? It's nothing big, I just need you to go back down to the maintenance tunnels and check on a few things for me." he explained.

I cracked the best smile I could, "Anything for you dad." I replied.

"Great to hear. Now, just head downstairs and I'll radio you over the intercom system and update you as you go along." he said, and then headed back to the rotunda.

I made my way downstairs, no longer having to worry about any danger and waited. The intercoms fired up and the static echoed through the steel corridors. "Can you hear me son?" my dad's voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

"Loud and clear pops." I replied.

"Alright, here's what I need you to do first. Go down to the second level and flush the excess water out of the tunnels. You should find a small panel near a large maintenance door; flip the bottom switch on it."

"Right." was all I said in response. After some searching I found the panel my father had been talking about. I flipped it and within a few minutes my father's voice came over the loudspeakers once again.

"Excellent work son, I can see the water levels lowering in the flooded parts of the tunnels. Now, here's what you need to do next. You'll find a few circuit breakers two rooms to your left. Flip the top breaker of the first, the middle one of the second, and the bottom of the third. That should get the power running at full strength again."

I continued through the tunnels and found the circuit breakers sticking out of the wall. I flipped them in order and the lights flickered on and illuminated the dark corridors and large rooms.

"Fantastic!" I heard my father yell over the intercom, "You're doing great. Next, you'll need to find the mainframe and reset it so we can upload our backup data files from before."

I wasted no time in searching for the mainframe, and when I found it, I reset it with little trouble and awaited further orders.

"Yes, yes! Bang up job down there son! You can come back up now, I need to talk to you about a few things." he told me.

My mind wandered over what exactly my father would want to talk to me about. Had he figured out what was going on between him and Madison? What would he think, would he approve of it?

My fear subsided though as I entered the rotunda and my dad threw his arms around me and squeezed me tight.

"Umm, everything alright dad?" I asked a bit confused.

"Everything's perfect Jason. I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you. Everything I've heard about your helping the people of the Capitol Wasteland has made me the proudest father in the world. And I know that your mother would be just as proud." he replied.

Tears formed in my eyes and I squeezed him back, "Thanks dad."

A sudden beeping noise coming from one of the terminals broke our happy moment. My father walked over to the terminal and frowned.

"Hmm, it seems there's a blockage in one of the main pipes." he said and then glanced over at me.

"Could I trouble you for one more favor?" he asked politely, and I was more than happy to oblige.

"There's an old sewer grate down the hall in the gift shop that should take you in to the pipe. You should spot an old valve on the wall of the pipe. Give it a good twist and the system should pump enough water through there to clear the blockage."

I found the sewer grate he told me about, opened it up, and jumped down. My feet landed on the damp metal below. It would have been impossible to see were it not for the little lights dangling from above.

I travelled along the pipeline until I found the valve my dad talked about. It stuck out of the lining of the pipe near a busted out section.

I grabbed on to the valve and put all of my weight in to it. I could hear the water pumping through the pipe at my front behind an iron barred door.

The speakers just above my head suddenly kicked on, "That's it Jason, come on back up and-wait, what's that noise?" his tone suddenly changed from ecstatic to upset.


	12. Chapter 12: The Shadow Falls

**Chapter 12: The Shadow Falls**

Before I could respond I heard a loud humming noise coming from outside. The noise grew louder and louder until two flying machines came in to view. They hovered over the memorial and landed just outside the gift shop.

"Damn it, Madison, lock the doors, tell everyone else to head for the escape tunnel!" I heard my dad order.

"Dad, what's going on!" I shouted.

"It's the Enclave son! Damn it, I was hoping they wouldn't notice our presence!" he shouted with fear in his voice. The sound of a door breaking down erupted from the speakers, followed by silence.

"Dad? Dad!" I shouted, but got no response.

_I swear to God if they hurt him or Madison I'll kill them all!_

I busted through the wrought iron door at my front and made my way back up to the gift shop.

I kicked the metal sewer grate open and held my Assault Rifle at the ready. I noticed two bodies lying on the floor as I snuck through the building towards the rotunda. I checked them, it was two of the maintenance workers that had followed along.

_Damn, did these Enclave bastards have no morals?_

The rotunda door had been broken down and I hurried through. I saw Madison up on the catwalks banging against the glass. I ran up and saw that my father was trapped inside with another female scientist, and four Enclave soldiers with their weapons drawn.

The last man I spotted I had never seen before. His hair was thinning and he had a rugged look about him. He wore a long brown overcoat and sported a 10mm Pistol in his hand.

"Oh thank god you're here Jason, they've got them locked up in there like prisoners!" Madison said frantically as I approached her.

The air lock leading to the inner working of the purifier had been sealed shut. I slammed my fist against it, "Dad! What's going on!?" I yelled through the glass.

My dad kept his cool and smiled at me, "Everything's alright son, Colonel Autumn and I were just having a mutual chat about the purifier."

Autumn, I had heard that name before. He was the one who wanted to interrogate me a while back.

The colonel adjusted the collar of his coat, "Now, where were we before your son so rudely interrupted us…ah yes, you were just about to turn the purifier and all of its properties over to the Enclave." he said with a devilish grin on his face.

"I'm sorry colonel, but I can't do that. This purifier belongs to the people of the wasteland, and the longer we sit here disagreeing with one another the longer it takes for us to find a way to purify this water." was my dad's response.

The colonel then aimed his pistol at the female scientist and blew her brains out. Madison let loose a blood chilling scream as she watched the colonel murder her colleague.

"Now I do grow tired of your little games sir. Give us what we need or you'll find yourself on the wrong end of this pistol!" he threatened.

Dad just stood there, eying his foe, thinking about what to do next.

He suddenly sighed and turned towards a console at his back. "You win colonel, I don't want to die any more than you do. Just let me upload all of the data and the purifier will be yours."

The colonel holstered his pistil and smiled, "That wasn't so hard now was it?" he said in a sarcastic tone. God how I wished I could break through this glass and strangle him to death.

A red light near the air lock suddenly flashed on, and soon after an alarm started to chime within the building.

The colonel looked around and then scowled at my father. "What did you do you insignificant worm!" he shouted as he raised his pistol.

My father smiled, "I'm sorry colonel, but you won't be leaving this facility alive, none of us will. I've triggered the failsafe and soon this room will be flooded with radiation. I can't allow you to take away what little hope the wasteland has in its future. You would use this machine to gain power, influence, and money while I would use it to help bring purified water to everyone free of charge and want nothing in return."

The colonel's finger lingered over the trigger of his gun, but let it fall to his side, "Damn you. If I'm going to die a slow and painful death than by God you are too!" he shouted, but his threat had no effect on my father.

Within minutes the Enclave soldiers started grasping their necks and were gasping for air. One by one they fell to the ground while the colonel and my father just stood perfectly still; their gazes locked on one another.

The colonel suddenly fell to his knees, grasped his throat, gave one final breath, and then fell to the floor.

My dad slowly limped over to the air lock and pressed his hand against it. Tears were already streaming down my face as I pressed my own hand to line up with his.

"Dad, please….no!" I shouted.

"Son….Jason….it's up to you….to see through….what I couldn't. Bring hope…to these people, and…never forget….who you are…" he trailed off and coughed profusely.

I pressed my forehead against the glass, I felt so helpless. "Dad, I love you, do you hear me, I love you so much!" I shouted with pain in my voice.

He smiled softly, "I…love you…too Jason…I'm so…" he fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. I could see his veins protruding from his skin, and he grew paler by the second.

He suddenly threw his head back and reached up at something I couldn't see. "Catherine?" was the last word that left my father's mouth before he finally slumped on to his side and became still.

He was dead.

I stood there for what seemed like an eternity and stared at my father's lifeless body.

It all suddenly broke out of me in an instant. I screamed at the top of my lungs and slammed my hands repeatedly against the glass. I swore and cursed aloud and then fell to my knees as I was engulfed by utter despair.

I suddenly felt Madison's gentle hands on my shoulders, and I looked up to see her concerned, tear covered face.

"Jason, we need to get out of here, I can hear more soldiers coming. Everyone is waiting for us down in the escape tunnel, it's up to you to see us to safety!" she told me.

I tried my best to collect myself and Madison helped me to my feet. I took her by the hand, "Let's go."

We opened the trap door which led down to the secret tunnel and sure enough one other female scientist and three maintenance guys were waiting for us.

"Where's James?" the scientist asked.

Madison simply shook her head.

All I could do was stand idly by and keep myself from having another outburst while Madison explained the situation to everyone. "These tunnels lead directly to the Citadel, once there, the Brotherhood of Steel will be able to protect us. I wouldn't doubt if the Enclave have already set up ambush points down here, but we've got the Lone Wanderer with us, and he'll make sure we make it out safe!" she told them.

The truth was, with every second that passed, I cared less and less for their well being as my heart filled to the brim with only one emotion.

Hate. Hate for the Enclave and everything it stood for.

I loaded a fresh magazine in to my Assault Rifle and headed out in front of the group. When we came to a small doorway which led through a small generator room I could already smell an ambush.

I threw my hand up, "Wait out here, I'll scout out the area ahead." I told them.

"Don't be gone long." I heard Madison say as I crept away.

I entered the room and hugged the walls. It was feint, but I could make out the sound of metal boots clanking against the metal floor on a balcony hanging over my head. I grabbed a plasma grenade from my pack and activated it.

I held it till the last possible second and then tossed it up on to the balcony. The soldiers didn't even have time to scream before they were engulfed in the bright green light.

A green plasma bolt hit the wall next to me and I looked up and spotted another soldier coming in from the other side of the room. I ducked behind a generator as three more bolts flew overhead.

I screamed aloud as I fired blindly over the generator. The soldier let loose an agonizing cry and I heard him fall to the floor. When I got back on my feet I walked over and saw that he was still alive.

I shot his hand as he reached out for his weapon. He recoiled his arm and screamed in pain. I kicked him on to his back and pointed my Assault Rifle at his head, "I'm going to hunt down every single one of you heartless fucks until not one of you remains!" I shouted, and before he could respond I loosed a bullet in to his forehead.

I spat on his lifeless corpse and then headed back for the others. I didn't say anything to them, I just signaled for them to keep close.

Madison covered her mouth when she saw the corpse of the soldier I had killed.

_Don't you dare feel any sympathy for him! _I thought.

We continued along the narrow corridors until we hit another possible ambush point. The room had three balconies and four support pillars that could easily hide even a fully armored Enclave soldier.

Once again I signaled for everyone to stay behind and wait for my return.

I peeked up through a hole in one of the balconies and spotted an Enclave soldier standing there, waiting. I smiled and pointed my gun at him.

I must've sprayed bullets at him for a good five seconds. He slumped to the floor and his blood had stained the wall where he had been standing.

"He's over there!" I heard one of them shout, and a grenade landed at my feet. I quickly picked it up and tossed it behind one of the pillars. I heard one of them scream before it went off and it brought joy to my heart as his severed limbs splattered against the wall.

I spotted two more on another balcony and fired like a madman in to them. A few bullets clipped one of their helmets and he tumbled over the railing and fell a good twenty feet and landed on his head.

I hid behind one of the pillars as green bolts flew past me, and then peeked out and took down the last one up top.

I heard footsteps behind me, but couldn't react quickly enough and received a blow to the side of my face. I felt another hit on my back and staggered forward. When the third blow came I lifted my hands and grabbed on to my attackers weapon. I shoved it back in his face and he lost his grip on it.

I grabbed on to the barrel and used all of my strength to bat him across the head with his own weapon. The soldier fumbled with his footing and then caught the weapon as I went for another swing.

We fought for dominance over the weapon before I received a head butt to the face. God it hurt, the guy was wearing a metal helmet after all. Blood trickled down to my lips and the salty taste entered my mouth.

I staggered back and the soldier pointed his gun at me. I yelled aloud and tackled him to the ground before he could fire and he dropped the weapon. I drew my pistol and fired multiple times in to my opponents masked face. Blood leaked out the back of his helmet and spread across the floor. I unloaded a few more shots to release some excess stress and then got to my feet.

I picked my rifle up off the ground and loaded another magazine in to it. Madison looked very concerned upon my return and wanted to look at my nose to make sure it wasn't broken. I rejected her offer and told everyone to keep moving.

After another fifteen minutes I looked back and noticed that everyone had stopped.

"What are you doing!? We need to keep moving!" I shouted as I approached them.

"It's Garza, he has a heart condition and it's starting to effect him." Madison explained.

"And?" I said impatiently.

"And he needs to be treated and get some rest or he'll never make it to the Citadel!" she replied.

"We don't have time for this shit, we need to get to the Citadel as soon as possible or else we might be flanked from the rear!" I shouted at her.

Madison took a few steps back. She had a blank expression on her face, "What did you just say? What the hell is wrong with you Jason, this isn't the man I've come to know and love!" she shouted.

In one instance I went from completely enraged to a poor sobbing pile of dead weight. I fell to my knees and covered my face with my hands.

"I'm so sorry Madison, I…I don't know what's come over me!" I said through my hands.

She placed a finger beneath my chin and raised it up so I was looking right in to her eyes. "I know how you must be feeling right now Jason, but can you keep it together long enough for us to get out of here alive?" she asked, and I nodded.

I got to my feet and headed over to Garza, who was leaning against a wall grasping his chest. I handed a few Stimpaks to the scientist, whose name was Anna Holt, sitting at his side.

"Thank you." was all she said in response. She went to work on treating her patient, and after twenty minutes of resting he was sure he could make it the rest of the way without any more problems.

I still felt the rage within, but I bottled it up for everyone else's sake. We were close now, just one more room and it was a straight shot to the exit.

When I entered through the doorway my Assault Rifle suddenly shattered in my hands. I looked up and saw an Enclave Sniper on the second floor. He fired again and I jumped behind a steel pillar. A few more shots clanged against the cold metal.

I sat there and thought about how best to handle the situation. All I had left was my pistol and a couple of plasma grenades. The lights above me flickered, and I suddenly got an idea. I pointed my pistol towards the ceiling and shot out one of the lights. I aimed again and took out the other one. The room was now completely dark, and the sniper stood out like a sore thumb because of the glowing power pack on his back.

I crept over to the stairs that led up to his perch as he shot wildly in to the dark.

"Wrong direction asshole!" I shouted. He turned to face me and I shot him right between the eyes. He stumbled backwards and fell over the side of the railing.

I turned the light on my Pip Boy on and headed back out in to the hall to collect the others. I sighed to myself as we walked past the shattered remnants of my trusty Assault Rifle.

_So long old friend._

The last stretch of narrow corridor led up an incline before finally ending at a large metal door.

"The underbelly of the Citadel is right through here." Madison told me.

Right as I was about to open the door, I heard hissing and snarling coming from behind another door at our left.

_Bang! Bang!_

Something was pounding against it.

_Bang! Bang!_

It started to give way.

I flipped the switch next to the giant steel door and it slid open just as the other smaller door was busted down. Out of it came fifteen Feral Ghouls who set their sights immediately on us.

"Run!" I shouted as the mindless zombies poured out of the doorway.

I ran behind the group and fired off a few pot shots as we ran for our lives. I managed to take a few of them out before my pistol made the familiar clicking noise of an empty chamber.

I holstered it and continued running as fast as my legs would carry me. When we rounded a corner up ahead somebody shouted at us to duck. I grabbed Madison by the waist and we fell to the ground along with the others.

A Brotherhood Paladin stood behind some sandbags and revved his Mini-Gun as the ghouls came around the corner.

A barrage of bullets erupted from the oversized weapon and tore through the ghouls like they were made from butter.

Two ceiling turrets were activated and they joined in on the slaughter. An arm snapped off a ghoul here, a head popped off another, and another's legs were swept out from beneath it.

The Paladin and the turrets painted the walls with green blood for the next thirty seconds until all of the ghouls had been taken care of.

Smoke billowed from the Paladin's Mini-Gun, and the edges of the barrels were a tint of orange from how heated they were.

"Alright, the danger has passed. You can head up top now." the Paladin advised.

I made sure everyone else climbed the ladder which led outside before finally heading up myself.

We emerged near the front gate of the Citadel and a single Brotherhood Paladin waited there for us. He wasn't wearing his helmet, which surprised me. He had short, matted hair which was an orange color and gave us a steely look as we approached.

"I'm sorry citizens but you're going to have to turn around and find shelter someplace else. The Brotherhood is already running low on resources, and we can't afford to harbor any refugees." he said bluntly.

I was about to teach this clown some manners, but Madison beat me to it. She stomped up to him and got right up in his face, "Listen you snob, I've got frightened and injured people that need help, and you have the audacity to tell us that we can't seek refuge here?" she scowled.

The man nodded, "Exactly. We can't afford to offer any help right now so-" Madison suddenly slugged him right in the kisser.

"You bitch!" he shouted before drawing his weapon on her.

I drew my pistol and aimed it his way. "Hey, drop the weapon pal." I ordered.

The Paladin laughed, "I don't take orders from wastelanders."

I fired a single shot near his feet, "I said drop it!"

He lowered his weapon, and I holstered mine. "Alright, take it easy there friend. But the answer is still no." he said calmly.

Madison rushed passed him and slammed her hand down on the intercom on the wall. "Damn it Owyn I know you can hear me! Let us in right this instant! We're tired and hungry and I know you've got more than enough supplies in there!" she yelled in to the speaker.

The huge steel gate suddenly lifted up off the ground signaling that it was alright for us to enter.

The gateway led to a circular courtyard within where an old man dressed in a red robe waited for us. He was completely bald and had a long grey beard. His wrinkled face showed signs of not only is age, but his experience and knowledge as well.

"Welcome to the Citadel my friends, you'll be safe here." he greeted in a low, aged voice.

When the man's eye caught me he raised his brow and stroked his beard, "Ah, so this must be the so called "saint" from the vault. The Lone Wanderer himself."

I just shrugged in response.

The man laughed, "Fair enough. Take as long as you need to gather your thoughts. The barracks should be sufficient for your needs. I'll be waiting down in the A ring when you're ready to talk." he said.

I rushed passed him but Madison caught hold of my wrist before I could leave. "Thank you Jason. If it weren't for you we never would have made it here. We owe you our lives."

I shook my wrist free of her grasp, "No, it's because of my father that we were able to escape. You owe him, not me." I said coldly and then left for the barracks.


	13. Chapter 13: Setting Things Straight

**Chapter 13: Setting Things Straight**

The first thing I did upon entering the barracks was find a room where I could be alone. I found a small room which harbored a single bed, an old refrigerator, and a radio box sitting on a shelf. I made sure to lock the door behind me.

I threw open the fridge, grabbed a beer, and then headed over to the radio. I tuned it to GNR and turned the volume up until the music was blaring out of it. I downed the beer in nearly one gulp. The intoxicating liquid burned the whole way down, but it was a good burn. I grabbed another beer and downed it just as fast as the previous one.

Before I knew it I had downed about six and could feel myself slipping out of consciousness. I slammed down on to the bed face down and the music in the background faded in to one loud buzzing noise before finally going silent.

I suddenly jolted awake and fell out of bed. I let loose a soft grunt as I hit the floor. "Fucking hell, what time is it?" I wondered. I checked my Pip Boy.

Three o' clock am.

I placed a hand on my forehead, it was burning hot. I felt like utter shit, and the blaring music only added to my throbbing headache. I got to my feet and stumbled over to the radio and shut it off.

I opened the door to my room and stumbled out in to the hall. No one else was around, but I didn't mind so much. I used the wall for support as I made my way down the hall. I could feel a warm breeze coming from beneath one of the doors so I figured it led outside.

I exited outside and found myself looking down on a dark and empty courtyard. I was pretty high up, a good seventy feet I'd say.

"Dad…why did you have to die…" I whispered to myself as the wind blew across my face.

I stepped up to the edge and contemplated jumping. If the fall didn't kill me, the various chunks of concrete lined with steel rebar certainly would. What was the point now? My father was dead, the purifier was under Enclave control, and I could care less about what happened next.

I inched closer to the edge. It would be so easy to just let myself fall.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you kid." A familiar voice said at my back.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the Mysterious Stranger puffing on a cigarette.

"Why not?" I said. My toes were hanging over the edge now.

"Because if you do than you'll be condemning the wasteland to a desolate future." he responded.

"I don't give a shit about the wasteland anymore…" I whispered.

Without warning, the stranger grabbed on to the back of my collar and threw me to the floor.

"So you'd throw your life away and condemn these people all because you lost your daddy? Boo fuckin' hoo!" he growled.

"You bastard!" I shouted and swung at him.

He caught my fist and twisted it behind my back.

"And to think, I was tryin' to protect a selfish little dickhead like you. Maybe I shoulda let those Raider's blow your brains out the first time we met."

He then slammed me in to the wall, "But you know why I saved you? It's because I sensed something in you. I sensed the potential within, buried deep, locked away and just begging to come out."

He kicked the back of my knee, "But maybe it's too late, maybe I should just kill you and rid this world of your selfishness."

I jerked my head back and got him square in the nose. I turned around and expected him to unload a few rounds from his Magnum, but instead he just stood there with a broad smirk on his face.

"Now there's the potential I was talking about."

A tiny drop of blood fell from his nose and he wiped his finger across it. "Hmm, can't remember the last time I saw my own blood." he said gruffly.

"Think it over kid. What would your father think if he saw you like this? He'd be ashamed that's what. He sacrificed himself so that you could live. He saw that same potential in you and knew what I have known all this time. You _are_ humanity's last hope."

I didn't respond, I couldn't. All I could do was look at the ground in shame. The knob of the door behind me turned, and when I looked back up, the stranger was gone.

"Jason, is that you?" I heard Madison's voice ask.

"Yeah, it's me." I replied.

She gently closed the door behind her, and pulled her robe over her exposed silk night gown. "What are you doing out here? I thought I heard you talking to someone?"

I decided to tell her exactly what I had been doing, "I…I was contemplating whether or not I should jump off this balcony."

Madison simply stared blankly at me, and then slapped me across the cheek. She slapped me three more times before finally saying something.

"How dare you! Do you have any idea how ashamed your father would be of you right now! You think you have nothing to live for, well here's some news for you Jason." she trailed off and then turned away from me.

"I'm pregnant." she said softly.

Even though I was still a little drunk I caught what she said the first time around, "You're pregnant? Are you sure?" I asked a bit shocked.

"Yes I'm sure. I found some old pregnancy tests in our medical supplies and I used every single one of them, and they all read positive." she explained.

"When did you find out?" I asked.

"About a day before you returned to Rivet City with James. I tried to tell you back at the memorial but your father cut me off."

We stood there in awkward silence. So, I had gotten her pregnant, and I was going to be a father. Now I had no choice but to stay alive, I couldn't leave Madison to raise our child alone. Hell, I couldn't leave _her_ alone.

I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. Tears ran down my cheeks, "I'm sorry for being so selfish…can you ever forgive me?" I pleaded.

"I will if you promise to _never_ let yourself become like this again." she whispered in to my chest.

"I promise." I whispered back. I felt a sudden feeling of peace come over me, and I knew right then and there what I had to do.

_Don't worry dad, I won't let your sacrifice be in vain. I'll find that G.E.C.K., take down any Enclave soldier that gets in my way, and see yours and mom's dream fulfilled. I swear it!_

Madison and I then headed back to my room where we fell asleep in each other's embrace.

Sunlight poured through cracks in the ceiling and landed on my face. I lifted my hand to cover the rays. I opened an eye and blinked a few times before finally sitting up in the bed. Madison was sitting at the table pouring two cups of coffee.

"Good morning." she greeted with a warm smile on her face.

"Morning." I replied.

I slumped out of bed and sat myself down at the table next to the beautiful woman. I gave her a good morning kiss and then took the cup of coffee in my hands.

I wanted to spit it out as soon as it touched my lips. I'm a drinking man, and coffee seems to be alcohol's polar opposite. I resisted the urge and let the bitter tasting liquid run down my throat. It would do me some good to restore much of the energy I had lost in my fit of rage the previous day.

Besides that, my body was still pretty bruised and battered and I had yet to seek the proper medical treatment.

After our drink Madison helped me down to the infirmary. On our way down I felt someone throw their arms around me. I grunted in pain as I realized that it was the woman I had helped at GNR, Sarah Lyons.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Jason, I didn't realize you were in such bad shape!" she said as she loosened her grip on me.

"It's alright." I grunted.

"How have you been since you helped us back at GNR?" she asked.

I shrugged in response, "Been helping out where I can." I replied.

"Did you ever find your father?" she asked, and I cringed a bit.

"He's….he's…d-d-d-." I couldn't say it, no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't say it.

"We lost him." Madison cut in.

"Oh….I'm so sorry Jason. If there's anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask, Remember, I still owe you for GNR." she said unaware of the fact that Madison and I were together.

"I'll keep it in mind." I replied not wanting to sound rude.

She gave me one last hug, "Well, I hope things pick up for you Jason. I've got to go meet my father for a debriefing on our last scouting mission. I'll talk to you later."

As she walked away from us Madison threw me a dirty look.

"What, it's not like she knows about us, and I didn't want to come off as a rude jerk." I said in my defense.

Madison just rolled her eyes and we continued towards the infirmary. It took the medics in the infirmary up until around noon before they completely treated all of my wounds.

A Brotherhood Knight walked in and approached me, "Elder Lyons wishes to speak with you." he said.

"Elder? I thought Sarah was a Sentinel?" I asked, a bit confused.

"What? No, she's Elder Lyons' daughter." he explained.

_So Sarah is Owyn's daughter? I can't believe I didn't make the connection sooner._

"What does he want to talk to me about?" I asked.

"Wouldn't say. All he would say is that it's very important and that you come as soon as possible." he answered and then left.

I got out of my bed and grabbed a grey t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans from a nearby closet. I headed down to the A ring where Owyn said he'd be waiting.

As I entered in to the main room my jaw nearly dropped to the floor at what I was seeing. A robot the size of a small skyscraper stood at the center of the room. All sorts of men and women in lab coats and red robes scurried about. Some were working on the robot, others were stationed at data terminals, and some stood around shouting orders.

I spotted Owyn talking with Madison and Sarah in front of the giant robot.

"What the hell is this thing?" I asked in awe as I approached them.

A smile cracked across Owyn's wrinkled face, "Our pride and joy, Liberty Prime." he said proudly.

"How, where did you find this thing?" I asked, still unable to take my gaze off it.

"Liberty Prime was supposed to be used during the war against the Chinese before the bombs dropped. We excavated his parts not too far from here and have been working on him for the past ten years." he explained.

"Wow. Does it work?"

Lyons shook his head, "We've run a few diagnostic tests but he's still not ready for a live combat situation. Maybe a few more months of work and he'll be ready to go."

I cleared my throat and changed the subject, "Sir, one of the knights said you wanted to speak with me about something?"

"Yes. Madison has told me about what happened back at the purifier." He suddenly stopped and then placed a hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry about your father son, he was a good man."

"Yes, he was. Now, could we continue." I didn't want to talk about my dead father.

"Ahem, yes, of course. Madison informed me that the Enclave has taken over the purifier, but they don't know what to do with it. She told me about this G.E.C.K. that is required for activating the purifier and cleansing the water in the Tidal Basin. I've had my men looking in to the Vault databases and we've narrowed the search down to two possible Vaults that might still hold one." he explained.

"Well, which ones are they?" I asked impatiently.

"Vaults 108 and 87." Lyon said in a serious tone.

"By the way you said them I'm guessing they're not places I want to go."

"I'll let you look at the data yourself. You'll find the terminal in the room behind you." he pointed out.

"Jason, I want you to know that you'll have the full support of the Brotherhood in this. We hate the Enclave just as much as you do." the old man started, but I cut him off.

"No, Lyons, you don't. The Enclave took from me what can never be replaced, and for that, I hate them from the depths of my soul." I said coldly.

"Fair enough, but I mean what I said. Anything you need, it's yours." he stated.

I looked at myself and noticed the lack of weapons and armor. "I could use a few new weapons and a new set of armor." I replied.

"Done. Go see the quartermaster in the B ring and she'll provide you with what you need." he told me.

As I turned to leave Lyons spoke up once again, "Jason, you bring us that G.E.C.K. and we'll make damn sure it gets to that purifier."

I cracked the slightest grin and nodded in response.


	14. Chapter 14: Assurance

Okay so, i need some real feedback from you guys about this chapter (but moreso for the second half). Tell me if you think i did a good job with it and be honest. If you don't like it, te;; me why, and maybe give me some tips to make it better. If you do like it, tell me why as well. Okay, enjoy!

**Chapter 14: Assurance**

As I wandered through the halls in search of the armory I realized that Owyn hadn't told me the name of the quartermaster. It didn't matter too much because after asking a few of the other members I found out the name and location of who I needed to see.

"Knight Captain Durga?" I asked the woman who was tinkering with a broken down Laser Rifle in the armory.

"Who wants to know?" she said gruffly as she ran her finger across a stray hair hanging over her face.

"The name's Jason, I've heard you're the person to see about weapons and armor?"

She looked at me thoughtfully and then answered, "Ah, right. Jason. They told me to expect you. What can I help you with?"

"Well I was hoping you could help me with my lack of firepower." I said with a grin on my face.

She returned the smile and headed over to a nearby locker. "What's your interest? Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Magnums?" she asked.

She threw the locker doors open and allowed me to look the weaponry over. There were so many to choose from, and all were in fairly good condition. I settled my gaze on a single Sawn-Off Shotgun hanging from the rack.

"I'll take one of those along with thirty shells." I told her, and she pulled the gun off and went over to the ammo crate in the corner.

I continued searching over the weapons until I spotted another one that caught my eye. An Assault Rifle not unlike my old one. The stock, barrel, and magazine size were different from a regular Assault Rifle.

"I see that modified Chinese Rifle has caught your eye. How much ammo do you need?" Durga interrupted.

"The Chinese made their own rifles?" I asked.

She simply nodded and asked, "So how much ammo you want?"

"Umm, 150 5.56 rounds should be fine."

She took the weapon in her hands and placed it on a table nearby, and then went to the ammo crate and got the amount of ammo I had requested.

"Now what about armor?" I asked.

"What's your pleasure? We've got Combat Armor, standard issue, or maybe you'll favor the lighter, more maneuverable Recon Armor?" she asked as she opened up the armor cabinets.

I looked the Combat Armor over and decided to ask about its benefits and downsides.

"Well, your standard issue Combat Armor offers maximum protection from incoming fire to your chest and stomach, but leaves your lower half susceptible to gunfire. Also, you'll find yourself becoming tired out fairly quickly if you run around for too long while wearing it, as it is rather heavy." she explained.

"What about the Recon Armor?"

Durga smiled, "Recon Armor allows for better movement and speed, and it also offers protection to all parts of your body except for your head of course. It's actually the armor preference of our scouts."

"The downsides?"

"Well, it may offer protection for your entire body, but less so than the Combat Armor. The armor is made from a Kevlar nylon mesh and is only useful in protecting against gunfire from smaller weapons." she explained.

I put my hand up to my chin and pondered about which armor to go with. After some time I finally caved and decided for the Combat Armor. After all, my vital organs resided in the upper part of my body, and that's what I needed to protect. I took a faded grey color variant and it fit like a glove. I strapped my newly acquired Sawn-Off to my thigh and threw the Chinese Assault Rifle over my back. Lastly, I took a belt of frags off the wall as well as a bandolier to allow easier access to my ammo.

When I finished strapping on my armor and weapons, I held my hands out and awaited the quartermaster's input.

"Not bad kid, you definitely look like a forced to be reckoned with now." she commented.

I smiled ever so softly and then turned to leave.

"If you ever need to restock your armament, you know where to find me." Durga yelled out to me as I walked away.

_Let's see, what's next? Oh right, Lyons mentioned something about a Vault database on one of the computers back in the A ring. The longer I delay, the longer it takes to find this G.E.C.K._

As I thought that last word my fathers smiling face flashed across the forefront of my mind. I suddenly found myself leaning against the wall and grasping my forehead in pain.

I suddenly felt the rage I had experienced just yesterday start to fill my heart once again.

_No! Don't allow yourself to go down that path!_

I clawed the wall and my breathing became erratic. As fast as the feeling had entered in to my heart, it left with the same speed. I let loose a sigh of worry and continued to the A ring.

Madison, Sarah, and Owyn were no longer in the room I had met them in before. No doubt they had their own business to attend to. I headed for a small room located in the back corner of the large space. A few Brotherhood Scribes sat at various terminals within and were busy tapping away at the keyboards.

I located a single unmanned terminal labeled "Vault Tech Database". I sat down in the worn leather chair in front of the terminal and went to work. I first searched out information on Vault 108. It didn't say much, other than it had been issued a G.E.C.K., that it had been equipped with a cloning lab, and that the Overseer who had been appointed would die from the cancer raging within his system after 40 months. I uploaded the data and the location of the Vault in to my Pip Boy.

The next Vault I searched for, Vault 87, gave me a critical error when I tried to bring up the information on it, which I thought odd. The only info I could gather told me that direct access to the Vault would be impossible and it also gave me the location. I uploaded this info as well and then decided to head back to spend some time with Madison before I set out.

I found her in the Research and Development department of the Citadel helping out with some of the weapons testing

I expected to be greeted by her radiant, smiling face, but instead she wore a worried and pained look

I tried to place my arms around her but she backed away hesitantly.

_What's wrong with her, why is she acting like this?  
_

"I guess this is goodbye then?" she said in a low voice.

"Hey, it's only for a little while. I have to do this Madison. For my father, for the people of the wasteland...and for you and our child. I thought you wanted this as much as I did?"

A tear ran down her cheek and she turned away from me, "I thought i did, but now...now I don't know what I want. Every time we're reunited you have to run off again."

I circled around and caught her gaze once more, "Believe me Madison I don't want to have to leave as much as you but it's what I need to do." I tried explaining to her.

She turned away from me again, "What if something happens to you? I don't think i could raise this child on my own..." she replied as more tears formed on her beautiful face.

"Nothing is going to happen to me, I won't let it." I responded, but it didn't seem to help much.

"I just...ugh, just go Jason. I don't know what to do so just leave!" she said harshly.

I simply nodded and then turned away from her, "Goodbye..."

It pained me to have to leave her on such bad terms. My legs felt like they weighed two tons each and every step I took felt heavier than the previous one. When I reached the exit I heard Madison yell out for me.

"Jason, wait! Oh God please wait!" she shouted.

I swept her up in my loving embrace and held her close. She wept uncontrollably in my arms, and i ran my fingers through her soft hair to give her comfort. I could feel the tears flowing from my eyes.

"Please Jason, don't go just yet. Stay here with me and keep me close." she said through her tears.

I did as she said and the two of us stood locked in each others embrace. The other scientists in the room gave us mixed looks of both sympathy and surprise.

After what seemed like an eternity Madison finally collected herself and looked up at me from my chest. "I'm sorry...I didn't want you to leave like that!"

I wiped the tears from her smooth cheeks and then planted a passionate kiss on her lips. She leaned in to me and returned it with equal passion.

"Thank you...I think I understand now exactly what I'm fighting for." I told her as I pulled away.

I pressed my forehead against hers and gave her a warm smile. "I promise I'll come back to you." I whispered.

She gave me another soft kiss, "I'll never stop waiting for your safe return." she replied.

I slowly pulled my arms from her and with one last heartwarming smile I headed back out for the wastes.

A breeze which carried the heat of a summer wind blew across my face as i re-emerged in to the Capitol Wasteland. Maybe, just maybe, it signified that something big was about to happen


	15. Chapter 15: Surrounded

**Chapter 15: Surrounded**

I checked my Pip Boy and reviewed the locations of the Vaults I needed to search. Vault 108 lay just north of the DC Ruins, while Vault 87 lay on the other side of the Capitol Wasteland.

_Vault 108 it is then._

The suns rays beat down on the back of my neck as I started my journey for Vault 108. The Citadel soon passed from my sight and I found myself out in the barren of the wastes that I had grown so used to. I downed half a bottle of purified water to keep my energy and strength up and continued on the long trek.

I took a short break near an abandoned shack and ate a mild lunch consisting of a can of Pork n' Beans and a Nuka-Cola. I picked my pack up and checked my Pip Boy.

_Fifteen passed two and still barely a quarter of the way._

The heat had a big hand in keeping me at a sluggish pace. The days seemed to be growing hotter as summer had just rolled in. The temperature usually reached in to the triple digits in the other seasons, even winter, but summer time often brought about an average of 115 degree weather. Such is to be expected from a post apocalyptic wasteland.

The first sign of danger along my journey came when I ran across a group of mercenaries that looked suspiciously like the mercs that had attacked me back when I was still looking for my father. They were set up in a makeshift base made from scraps of metal and discarded bits of wood and concrete on the outskirts of an old pre war neighborhood.

I snuck through the old, run down homes and made my way closer so I could scope out just how many mercs I had to deal with. Two of them were sitting at a table playing cards, one of them stood atop a raised wooden platform overlooking the front side of the little camp, one lie asleep in a hammock near the back, and I couldn't be sure, but judging from the laughter coming from a tent in the middle of the camp there could be at least two more.

Normally I wouldn't have chosen to sneak in to the camp, but the sound of the laughter and chatter coming from within would drown out the sounds of my footsteps. I made sure to take each step as lightly as I could, and when I reached the outside wall of the camp I looked around for a way in. Luckily I found a hole in the wall big enough for me to crawl through.

I came through next to the merc sleeping on the hammock and nearly fell on my ass at how close I had come to accidently running in to him. I looked over at the still distracted mercenaries playing cards and sighed under my breath.

I knew I wouldn't be able to take them all, so I needed to make a distraction that would cause them to follow me somewhere more suitable for a fight. Somewhere like…Aha, the old neighborhood nearby! The houses were mostly hollowed out, but still provided enough cover for what I had planned.

_Now for the distraction…_

An evil sneer came across my face as my gaze rested upon the napping mercenary. I plucked a single frag grenade from my belt and slipped it in to his pocket.

"Sweet dreams." I whispered, and then snuck off to an adequate place to watch everything unfold.

A sudden explosion immediately put the other mercenaries on alert and they all made their way over to the source.

One of the mercs cocked the shotgun in his hands, "Talon Mercenaries, we got us an intruder! Spread out, he couldn't have gotten far!" he ordered.

I aimed my rifle at one of their backs and let loose. The bullets tore in to his backside and he fell to the ground.

"There he is! Get that little fucker!" the one with the shotgun shouted.

I headed back for the neighborhood as the mercenaries trailed behind me. If I kept to the houses and singled them out I would probably come out of this fight in one piece.

I ducked in to the first house I came across and headed upstairs. The only thing that remained of the roof was a single section in the back corner, and bits of torn up beds and couches lie scattered within.

I crouched just inside the doorway of a room upstairs and waited.

"You, check in here!" a slightly muffled voice said from outside.

As soon as the mercenary entered in to the house the old wooden floors creaked beneath his metal boots.

"I know you're in here!" the merc whispered in a cocky manner.

I could hear him starting up the stairs and pulled the Sawn-Off from its holster. His footsteps grew closer and closer, and I could feel myself sweating bullets.

I aimed the Sawn-Off up at the doorway when I was sure he stood right outside. Right before he stepped in to the room, gunfire erupted from outside the house, and the mercenary turned to run down the stairs and headed back outside.

"We got ourselves some company!" I heard one of them yell from outside.

I crept to one of the windows and looked outside. The mercenaries had garrisoned themselves in one of the other houses nearby and were firing on an unknown enemy that I couldn't see yet.

I dropped down from an opening on the top floor and headed towards the mercenaries right flank. I found one crouching behind a fallen stone pillar firing his assault rifle like a mad man. I got behind him and held the Sawn-Off to the back of his head.

_BLAM!_

The back end of the mercs head exploded in to a mess of brain chunks and splintered pieces of skull. He fell to the dirt and I searched his corpse for ammo or anything else that I could use. I looked up and noticed that I hadn't managed to alert the others.

I popped the Sawn-Off open and quickly loaded two more shells in to it. I slammed it shut and crept closer to where the others were. I took a route through a nearby house and headed to an overlook point upstairs. I could see two more mercenaries firing over a fallen tree. I still couldn't make out exactly what they were shooting at.

"Incoming!" one of them shouted as a missile soared through the air right at them. The two behind the tree pulled back and the missile blew the tree in to thousands of tiny splinters.

I took my Chinese assault rifle off my back and aimed down at them. I pulled the trigger and took one of them out. The remaining merc spun around and fired randomly at the window I had been peeking out of.

More bullets penetrated the rotting wood so I shuffled away from the wall.

"Shit! Here comes another one men!" one of the mercs shouted.

Another missile had been fired and made contact with the house I currently resided in. When the smoke cleared a large hole had been blown out of the upper wall. I got myself to my feet and brushed the dust and grime from my armor.

Something struck me in the side and sent me in to the wall to my right.

"Fuck…" I grunted as I hit the floor.

I looked over and saw the mercenary who wielded the combat shotgun standing on the stairwell with a smirk on his face.

"Gotcha now you little fuck!" he shouted, and then took aim again.

I whipped my Sawn-Off as fast as my arm would carry it and blasted him right in the chest. The blow sent him flying off the stairs and he hit the floor with a deafening crack.

I sat up and looked at my side. Buckshot lie embedded within the thick metal plating of the upper half of my armor. It hurt like hell, and would most likely leave a helluva bruise, but I would live.

I stood up and looked over the railing. The merc who had snuck up on me lie motionless on the floor just feet below, blood trickling from his mouth.

I leaned against the railing and attempted to catch my breath. The sounds of battle still surrounded me, and there were still at least four mercenaries to deal with, not to mention whatever had attacked them.

I stumbled down the steps and took the shotgun shells the mercenary carried and headed back outside. I grasped my side as I made my way through the different houses until I suddenly found myself directly in the middle of the firefight.

I leaned against the wall and reloaded my sawn-off. I brushed my hair out of my face and wiped the sweat from my brow.

_Damn it's hot._

I took a half empty bottle of purified water from my pack and finished it off, then tossed the bottle to the side.

"All intruders must clear the area or you will be shot on sight!" a somewhat synthetic voice shouted over the sound of the gunfire.

_What the fuck? Is that a robot?_

Just then a massive robot rolled in to view and turned its sights on me. The thing must've been at least eight feet tall and had a Mini-Gun attached to one arm and a missile launcher embedded in to the other. It rolled along on three pivoting ball joints and had an eerie looking red eye which slid back and forth across the visor in its metal cranium.

"You are wielding firearms in a cease-fire zone civilian, lethal force authorized!" it chimed, and the mini-gun on its right arm revved up.

My eyes went wide and I reacted as quickly as I could. I rolled away just as the bullets spewed forth from its arm and scurried behind a broken down wall. I placed my hands over my head and closed my eyes as bullets whizzed all around me.

The robot stopped firing and I could hear a loud beeping noise coming from it. "Hostile eliminated, continuing search." It then turned back towards the mercenaries and rolled up the street.

I slumped against the bullet ridden wall and realized that my hands were shaking like crazy.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" I shouted as the robot plowed through a wall behind me and started revving its gun once again. I pulled a frag from my belt and tossed it behind me as I darted away from danger. It went off, but I could still hear the bullets spewing from the metal demon's weapon.

"There he is!" I heard someone shout from my front. I now stood directly in front of the four remaining mercenaries, and they all had their weapons aimed at me. I threw my hands in to the air and stood there stiff as a board.

"I am authorized to use lethal force to take you out!" the bot stated as it busted through a wall at the mercenaries right flank.

"Shit, kill that scrap heap!" a merc shouted and they all unloaded in to the oversized robot.

The robot stood perfectly still as the mercenaries unloaded every bullet they had in to its metal hull. Sparks flew off of it as the bullets made contact and the mercs thought they had it outmatched.

The sound of empty chambers rang out through the air and all went silent. The robot remained still, and then spoke up, "Damage sustained, minimal. Eliminating all hostiles in the area!"

It revved the Mini-Gun on its arm and mowed down the remaining mercenaries with little trouble. I took this as my cue and got the hell out of there.

"Running will do you no good civilian, I will find you." I heard the robot say in its creepy voice.

I ran until my lungs felt like they would explode and then took cover in an outcropping of dead trees. I placed my hands on my knees and breathed heavily.

_Is that damn thing still behind me? What the fuck is a robot doing way out here?_

My fears were soon confirmed when I heard the familiar sound of the robots ball joints grinding against the loose rocks in the dirt.

"Scanning area for hostiles." It said in an emotionless voice.

I peeked out from behind the trunk of a tree and saw it moving its head around. I stepped back behind the tree and slowly started to back away when my foot caught a fallen branch and I fell on my ass.

I looked up and saw the robot's head swing in my direction.

"Suspicious noise in immediate vicinity. Investigating."

I scrambled to my feet and took off once again. My lungs were already burning and I knew I wouldn't make it much farther before I would collapse from exhaustion. I looked back and saw the robot tear through the dead trees.

_This is like a nightmare! Wake up, wake up!_

"Hostile spotted. Engaging!" I heard it shout.

I suddenly found myself tumbling to the ground as I tripped over a rock protruding from the ground. Another jagged rock dug in to my palm as I hit the ground. I wouldn't be getting up this time, I was spent.

The metal beast rolled over to where I lie and stopped about ten feet from me.

It pointed the missile launcher at me and I could hear a missile being lodged in to place.

_Oh great, at least this will be quick and painless. Madison, everyone….I've failed you._

A large blue orb came out of nowhere and landed right in front of the robot. It erupted in to a field of electricity which engulfed the metallic demon. It twitched in place and then aimed its missile launcher up at the sky and fired off.

Another blue orb landed at its front and more electricity cracked through it.

"System failure, shutting down…" the single red eye in its visor faded away as the robot went dormant.

I looked over and saw a pair of leather boots approach me, "Well I never thought I'd see you again." the voice of a man said to me. I looked up and saw a semi-wrinkled face staring back at me.

"Kirk?" I asked, still unsure of whether I had actually died or not.


	16. Chapter 16: An Old Friend

**Chapter 16: An Old Friend**

The old wastelander extended a helping hand, "Yup. Now come on, let's get you up off the ground." he said as I took his hand.

"Mind tellin' me what you were doin' tryin' to fight one of them murderbots?" he asked.

"I got mixed up in a fight against some Talon Mercs when this thing interrupted us. What the hell is a robot doing way out here?" I asked in response.

Kirk stroked his soul patch, "I honestly couldn't tell ya kid. Most of the time these things can be found around factories or power stations." he answered.

"Well thanks for killing it and saving my life. I owe you one Kirk." I told him.

A smile formed on his semi-wrinkled face, "Oh it ain't dead, it'll just be out of commission for a few hours. Pulse Grenades will do that to any kind of robot. It sends electric currents through their circuits and temporarily shuts em down." he explained.

I looked over at the dormant bot and felt a bit uneasy, "Maybe we should get out of here then."

Kirk placed a hand on my back, "You read my mind kid. Come on, I got a hideout near here. We can get your hand fixed up there."

I had completely forgotten that I had gouged my hand on that jagged rock when I fell. I lifted my left hand and sure enough a sizeable gash had been made. It had already stopped bleeding and the blood around it had already started to dry. Bits of dirt and rock were stuck in the incision so I knew I should treat it before it became infected.

Kirk and I walked for some time before we reached a small shack hidden at the back of a sheer cliff face.

"Well here we are. Not bad, eh?" he asked.

I nodded, "Not bad at all."

We headed inside and Kirk placed his pack on the counter and went over to a med kit near his bed. He pulled some gauze and a small vial of clear liquid from it. He pointed to a chair near the counter and I sat down to wait.

He pulled another chair close and sat down next to me. "Let's see that hand of yours." he said as he placed the medical supplies on the counter.

I held my left arm out to him and he grabbed the vial of liquid. "This'll sting like hell." he said as he unscrewed the cap.

I clenched my teeth as the clear liquid entered the incision. It started to bubble and froth as the liquid cleaned out any infectious materials. Kirk then grabbed the gauze and wrapped it around my palm, and sealed it together with some medical tape.

"There, that should prevent it from getting infected." he said.

I pulled my arm back and rubbed my wrist, "Thanks."

"Any time kid." he replied. He picked the excess medical supplies up off the counter and placed them back in the med kit.

He looked over at me with a quizzical look, "So what brings you all the way out here?" he asked.

"Oh, umm, I'm trying to get to Vault 108." I replied.

He raised his brow and smiled, "Another Vault? What're you lookin' for this time?"

"Something called a G.E.C.K."

He walked over to a cabinet in the corner, "Mhmm, you thirsty?" he asked.

As much as I love to drink, I felt like I should abstain for now, it might slow my progress. "I'm good." I replied.

"Suit yourself." He said and grabbed himself a bottle of whiskey.

He sat down next to me and his face became stern, "I…I heard about what happened down at the purifier…and what happened to your pappy." he said in a low voice.

I cringed a bit at the mentioning of my father and nodded rigidly. "That happened only two days ago, how do you know already?"

"News travels fast in the wasteland kid; you can thank Three Dog for that. Speaking of which, why don't I turn on the radio for a bit." He said and then walked over to the small box sitting on the desk next to his bed.

With a quick twist of a knob the radio flickered on and static entered the room. Kirk messed around with the dial for a few seconds before some old jazz music erupted from the single speaker.

Kirk sat back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the counter. The music rolled through the house and helped relax me a bit. When the song finished the radio went silent for a minute before a voice I hadn't heard in some time came out.

"Good evening children, this is Three Dog! Awoooo! I hope you enjoyed that little piece by Roy Brown. Now, let's get down to business. Word has reached me that the kid from 101 has set out on a quest to retrieve some sort of device that's supposed to get the purifier up and running. Let's take our hats off for the courage that this kid has displayed even when faced with the tragedy of losing his father to those damned Enclave bastards. Yet despite all of this, he's still out there fighting the good fight and making sure that we have something to look forward to. Way to go kid, and if you're listening, I wish you the best of luck, and know that what's mine is yours. You ever find yourself near GNR, feel free to stop by and we'll have a drink together. So here's to you kid." When he finished I found myself with a smile on my face.

_I'll have to remember to take you up on that offer Three Dog._

"In other news, the people of Megaton have been reporting increasing sightings of a mysterious stranger roaming the area. One man even claimed he saw this lone ranger take out a group of ten raiders without ever moving from where he stood. Well, whatever he really did see, it's clear that there's someone else out there exacting his own brand of justice on the evil doers of the wastes. Watch out 101, it seems like you've got some competition!" Three Dog added.

Kirk laughed in his chair, "You believe that? What kind of man can take out ten raiders without moving from one spot? These guys need to lay off the Jet if you ask me." he said before taking another swig of his drink.

I chuckled to myself at this remark.

Another old pre war song burst forth from the box and Kirk soon found himself humming along with the beat of the music with his eyes closed.

Just then a quick thought came to my mind.

"Kirk?" I called out.

"Hmm?" he answered through his humming without opening his eyes.

"What would you say if I asked you to accompany me in my search for the G.E.C.K.?"

One of his eyes popped open and he looked over at me, "I'd say what's the catch?"

"No catch. It's just that the encounter with that sentry bot made me realize that I could do a lot better out here if I had someone covering my back. I can pay you if that's what it takes." I explained.

Kirk leaned forward in his chair and scratched his chin. After contemplating for some time he finally came to a decision.

"You drop 500 caps for supplies and I say you've got yourself a partner." He answered with a grin on his face.

I held my hand out and shook his, "It's a deal then."

Kirk got out of his chair and headed for an old chest lying at the foot of his bed. He rummaged through it for weapons and supplies that would be necessary for the trip.

He then went to the cabinet and used his arm to sweep a bunch of food items in to his pack. He pulled a custom made leather jacket from the dresser and put it on. It had a Kevlar vest sewn to the inside for extra protection.

The last time we travelled together he sported a single silenced 10 mil and a combat knife, but this time he opted for dual custom modified 10 mil SMGs, a belt of multiple types of grenades, and a single machete which hung from a sheathe on his left leg.

The SMGs held a larger clip than their normal counterpart and the fire rate had been upped at the cost of lessened accuracy.

When he finished gathering everything he waited for a response from me.

"We travel through the night. I need to find this thing as soon as possible. Stay low, and let's try and avoid any more confrontations from here until Vault 108." I told him.

"Well alright kid, it's been a long time since I've done anything worth mentioning." he replied.

We exited his shack and he locked the door behind us. As we trotted down the dirt path leading away from his home I turned to him, "Thanks again Kirk. I'll feel better knowing I've got someone like you for company."

He nodded and then downed the last of the bottle of whiskey he had been drinking before we left.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Quick note, this is for everyone who wanted Jason to finally get a companion to help him on his journey, so Kirk is here to stay...for now ;)


	17. Chapter 17: Vault 108

Here's a little something special for all my readers. Hope you enjoy! :)

**Chapter 17: Vault 108**

For the next three days Kirk and I traversed across open plains, confined streets surrounded by large buildings, and even a dead forest. We hadn't met much else aside from a few wild dogs and a couple of feral ghouls.

I checked the map on my Pip Boy and realized we only had a few miles to go before we reached the tunnel that would lead to Vault 108. I really didn't know what to expect from this Vault. Would it be in as good of a condition as Vault 112, and would there even be anyone still alive inside? My questions would soon be answered.

A large rock cliff shot up a couple hundred feet from the ground. At the base a single wooden door sat in waiting.

"We're here." I said sternly. I pulled the Sawn-Off from my thigh and made sure it had been loaded. Kirk pulled one of his SMGs from his belt and chambered a bullet.

"Keep on alert, we don't know what we're going to find in here." I suggested, and he agreed.

When I pulled the old rotting door open it partly fell off of its hinges.

A cloud of dust erupted from the tunnel and I covered my mouth. When the dust cleared I could smell a musky aroma coming from within.

I turned the light on my Pip Boy on as we entered the dark rock tunnel. Kirk let loose a few coughs which echoed off the walls.

About a hundred feet in I gasped in shock at the fact that the Vault door already lie ajar.

I could already tell that this Vault would be nothing like 112, evident by the rusted out walls and dim lights flickering on the ceiling.

"Damn, look at the state of this place. I thought these Vaults were meant to last for hundreds of years." Kirk commented as we stepped over various pieces of garbage strewn about the floor.

"It seems like this place might've been emptied out a long time ago. Still, there could be new residents lying in wait." I told him.

We made our way down a long steel corridor which led to the Vault living quarters. I held my wrist out to illuminate the large room. Overturned furniture and thrashed desks and lockers covered the cold metal floor. Papers and other miscellaneous objects also littered the floor.

I looked up and saw two catwalks stretching out overhead. The air in the room was thick with dust, and it made it hard to breathe.

"Damn, what happened here?" Kirk whispered under his breath.

I simply shook my head and then pointed to an open doorway on the other side of the room. We walked through it and started up the flight of stairs we had happened across. The stairs led up to the second level and we stepped out on to the catwalks, which creaked under our steps.

Everything was deathly silent, and even though I had company it didn't help to ease the sinking feeling in my gut.

We searched through the various rooms in the living quarters for anything that we could sell for some spare caps. We managed to salvage a few medical supplies which we split evenly, and even found a nice stash of ammo crates in the library.

When we finished our search we headed down a flight of stairs which led down to the inner sanctum of the Vault. We found another electric door at the end of the corridor which had a dust covered plaque next to it. I wiped the dust away and held my light up to read what it said.

"Cloning Labs." I said aloud.

"Cloning Labs? What kind of Vault is this?" Kirk commented.

"I don't know. In the data file I read it said something about a cloning lab, but it didn't specify its purpose." I replied.

Kirk looked over his shoulder with an uneasy look in his eye, "Let's find this G.E.C.K. of yours quick, this place gives me the creeps." he said.

"Me too." I said to myself.

I pressed the button on the panel next to the door and it slowly slid open. My wrist light helped to light up the large room we had stepped in to. Various medical tables on wheels could be seen lying around, and many smaller curtained rooms lie separated from the main part of the lab. We found some more medical supplies here as well.

A sudden crashing noise scared the ever loving shit out of the two of us. I shined my light where the source of the noise came from and saw that one of the tables had been overturned.

"What the fuck was that?" Kirk said as his eyes darted around the room.

I shook my head, my hands shaking, "I don't know, maybe a Radroach or something."

As we reached the end of the lab my eye caught a large object lying atop one of the medical tables and signaled for Kirk to keep close. When we came closer I could make out the shape of a person.

I plugged my nose with my hand when I realized that the person was missing their head.

"God damn, what the fuck kind of sick shit is this?" Kirk asked.

Another loud noise caught our attention and I shined my light in its direction. Another medical table had spilled over and a few medical utensils littered the floor.

"Okay kid, I think I've had enough of this place." Kirk said.

"Wait, the control room is right through that door. We should find the G.E.C.K. in there if it even _is_ there." I told him.

We kept low and crept over to the door. It opened up with a loud creak and we stepped inside.

"No…" I whispered when I saw that the main power source of the Vault had been partially destroyed, which explained why only certain parts of the Vault were lit by the backup lights.

I searched frantically for what the computer had described about the G.E.C.K. A small metal box encrypted with coding on each side. After searching for around twenty minutes I picked a piece of the half destroyed core off the ground and tossed it at the wall.

"Damn it!" I shouted.

Kirk placed a hand on my shoulder, "Sorry kid, I was hopin' you'd find what you were lookin' for. Now what's say we head back up to the surface? I think we've overstayed our welcome."

I collected myself and then turned to leave. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a rustling noise coming from the lab. I glanced in Kirk's direction, and he already had his SMG at the ready. I brought my fingers up to my eyes and then pointed at the doorway. He nodded and then positioned himself next to the closed door.

I made my way over to a single glass window that looked in at the lab. I saw multiple shadows moving around. They were tossing the medical tables against the walls and would even hit each other every so often. I held three fingers up to Kirk so he would know how many there were.

They suddenly stopped there rampaging and seemed to look in my direction. They started for the door which led to where we were and I frantically searched for a place to hide. I hid behind what remained of the power core and turned out my light.

I could hear their footsteps right outside the door, but they hesitated in opening up. Suddenly, the door slowly slid open and I could make out the three shadowy figures waiting on the other side.

"Hehe, Gary…" one of them said in a low voice.

"Gary?" another one said.

"Gary! Gary!" the third yelled out.

_Gary__, what the fuck?_

They cautiously entered the room, and I saw Kirk aim his gun at their backs. I held my hand up and signaled for him to hold his fire.

The three figures made their way about the room attempting to search for whatever it was they had seen. They tossed the various crates in the room around and kept spouting off about this "Gary".

Once they seemed sure that no one else was in the room, they headed back towards the exit. I let loose a sigh as the last figure exited the room. I went back to the window and made sure not to leave until they had exited the lab.

Kirk came up next to me and was breathing heavily, "Who, or even what, were they?" he asked in a whisper.

I shook my head, "I don't know, but it seems like they're gone now." I answered.

I decided not to use my light as we headed back towards the exit, which made it a little more difficult getting back.

We re-entered the living quarters, and when we made our way in to the common room, the flickering lights on the ceiling suddenly went dark, and the door at our back slammed shut.

I readied my weapon and aimed it around the room, though I couldn't really see anything.

"Gaaaarrrryyyy." a chilling voice rang out over the silence.

"Kid, turn that light of yours on." Kirk whispered to me.

I brought my Pip Boy up and fumbled for the switch. When the light flashed on, Kirk and I pressed ourselves against each other at the terrifying sight before us.

At least twenty men who looked exactly alike had us completely surrounded. Each wore a smirk on their face and held various melee weapons in their hands.

I gulped hard and tried to keep my aim steady.

_I guess this is what the cloning labs were for._

Without warning the clones suddenly leapt for us.

_BAM!_

I took two out with one shot from my Sawn-Off and splattered their brains against the wall. Kirk unloaded in to the oncoming attackers and took at least four of them down without much trouble. I quickly loaded two more shells in to the shotgun and took aim once again.

One of the clones brought a wooden bat down on my arm, which caused me to drop my gun. The clone brought his bat down again but I was quick enough to catch it.

I pulled the bat from his grip and swatted him across the side of his head and he crumpled to the floor.

"I could use some help here!" I heard Kirk shout as six clones closed in on him. He took two of them down before his clip had been emptied. He attempted to load another magazine in to the gun but was knocked to the ground by the clones.

They started to beat him, so I ran forward and jumped in to the group, knocking them all off balance. I batted one of them across the back and knocked him to the ground, then spun around and slammed the bat in to another clone's side.

"Gary!" one of them shouted angrily. I felt a set of fingers wrap around my neck form behind and dropped the bat. I reached up and attempted to loose my attackers grip, but he held firm.

A shot rang out and the clone suddenly let me go. Kirk lie on the floor with his spare SMG in hand. Another clone made a go for him and he pulled his machete off his leg and drove it in to the raging clone's stomach. Blood trickled down the blade and ran off on to Kirk's hand.

I aimed my light at the ground and searched for my sawn-off. I picked it up when my light passed over it and blew another oncoming clone in to the wall, leaving a large hole in his chest.

Kirk got to his feet and sliced another clone's arm off, then chopped in to his side.

"Ga…ry…" the clone sputtered as it fell to the floor.

I thought that was the last one until I took another blow to my back, but my armor absorbed most of the blow.

A clone with an angry look on his face stood behind me. He swung at me again but I couldn't react quick enough this time around. The pipe struck my jaw and sent me toppling to the floor. I spat two teeth from the back of my mouth up, followed by a good amount of blood.

"Hey Gary, forget about me!" Kirk taunted from the other side of the room.

"GARY!!!" the clone shouted and charged Kirk in a blind rage.

Kirk lodged a single bullet in to the clone's eye and he fell to the floor. Everything had become silent once again.

Kirk walked over to me and helped me off the cold floor. "You alright kid?" he asked noticing the blood leaking from my swollen mouth.

I nodded, "And you?" I asked, noticing that his face had been pretty bloodied up.

He cracked a small smile, "I'll live. It'll take more than a bunch of crazed clones to take this old timer out." he replied.

"Come on, let's head back up. Then we can treat our wounds properly." I said, and we helped each other back towards the Vault exit.


	18. Chapter 18: Rescue

**Chapter 18: Rescue**

We still had about three hours of daylight left when we resurfaced. We sat near an outcropping of rocks where we would be out of sight while we treated our wounds.

My face felt three times its size and throbbed with a pain like no other. I injected a Stimpak in to my neck and it helped to relieve some of the swelling and pain. I took a quick swig of purified water to wash the blood from my mouth and spat it out on the ground. I reached in to my mouth and felt for empty tooth sockets. Two teeth from the left back side of my mouth were gone.

Kirk used his water to clean the blood off his face and then used some anti-bacterial liquid to disinfect the cuts.

He cringed a bit and then laughed, "No matter how many times you do this you never get used to it." he commented.

"Amen to that." I replied.

When Kirk had finished he sighed loudly, "Kid, I hope we never have to visit a place like this ever again."

I shook my head, "Believe me, we won't." I responded.

I leaned back against the base of the rock I sat near and closed my eyes. Madison's beautiful face flashed across my mind, and it brought a smile to my face and helped me to feel a little more comforted.

Kirk cleared his throat, "So, what're you gonna do now that you know there's no G.E.C.K. here?" he asked, which broke my train of thought.

"There's another Vault that's supposed to have one, but it's on the other side of the wasteland." I answered.

"What Vault is that?"

"Vault 87." I answered without opening my eyes.

I noticed something then. There was nothing but complete silence. No sound of the wind blowing, not even Kirk's breathing could be heard.

I opened one eye and saw Kirk sitting there with a grimace across his face.

"Something wrong?" I asked in concern.

"D-did you say Vault 87?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yes I did. Why?" I asked back.

He ran his fingers through his long hair and shook his head, "We can't go there kid. I've heard nothing but horrible things about that Vault." he said through ragged breaths.

"Such as?"

"Well for starters the Vault can't even be directly accessed. When the bombs fell one hit right in front of the Vault and now the area is surrounded in a lethal amount of radiation." he started.

"I already knew that. What else is so bad about this place?" I continued to pry.

"Well, it's only rumors, but they say that terrifying creatures dwell within the Vault. People say it was used for brutal scientific experiments and all sorts of abominations are running amuck." he continued.

I leaned forward, "Go on."

"They say that you can access the Vault by another way. A secret tunnel which leads to the back entrance. They call the tunnel Murder Pass. Appropriate if you ask me, since the whole place is swarming with Super Mutants." he finished.

"Would you happen to know where this 'Murder Pass' is?" I asked.

Kirk's face became stern, "You need to go through a settlement known as Little Lamplight. It's supposed to be some settlement inhabited entirely by little kids." he told me.

"Little kids? How have they managed to survive this long?" I asked.

"Hell if I know. They must have one helluva defense set up."

"Little Lamplight, huh? Where exactly is it?"

Kirk made me hold my Pip Boy out to him and he scrolled through the map. "Right here, not too far from Vault 87, so it's still a ways away from here." he said as he marked it on my compass.

I leaned back against the rock again and shut my eyes, "Let's get some shut eye before we set out again. It'd probably be better to travel under cover of dark." I told my comrade, and he grunted in response.

I woke up about five hours later and realized that night had fallen already. Kirk was still asleep and snored loudly. I got to my feet and walked over to him.

"Kirk, let's get going." I said as I shook him.

His snoring was cut short and he jolted awake. "What? Oh, right. Let me just stretch these tired out limbs a bit." he told me.

We gathered our belongings and started our long journey towards Little Lamplight. After only two hours of walking Kirk started coughing uncontrollably and asked if we could stop. He rested his hand against a nearby tree and brought an old rag up to his mouth. He coughed so hard I thought he was going to cough up his lungs.

I walked over to him and patted him on the back, "You okay?" I asked concernedly.

He coughed a bit more and then looked up at me form his slouching posture, "Oh don't worry about me kid. I am getting old after all, just one of the drawbacks I suppose." he tried to reassure me.

When his coughing fit passed he placed the rag in his back pocket and took a deep breath. I still felt concerned about him, but if he said it was nothing than I wouldn't press him about it.

After traveling for some time we spotted an old church building off in the distance.

"Could be a good place to scrounge some supplies." Kirk said as we debated whether or not we should check it out.

"Alright, but keep your guard up." I finally agreed.

We kept low and moved from cover to cover until we were only a short distance away. I brought my AR to my front and looked down the iron sights for any sign of movement.

"Looks clear." I said, and just before I came out from behind cover Kirk grabbed on to my shoulder.

He gestured forward with a nod and I looked at what he had seen. A grotesque looking creature unlike anything I had ever seen before crawled around the outside perimeter of the church.

It had six legs, or rather, a mixture of arms and legs, as well as a thick, round abdomen which led up to a mouthless head. Multiple tentacles protruded from where its mouth should have been and wiggled about in a gruesome manner.

I covered my mouth to keep myself from vomiting. "Dear God, what is that thing?" I asked.

"That there's a Centaur. A mutie watch dog if you will." he whispered.

"I've dealt with my fair share of muties and I've never seen one of those before." I answered back.

"Well, usually only small groups of mutants garrisoned in small buildings use em. So we can assume there are at least two mutants waiting inside."

"As much as I'd love to pop some mutie heads, we've got more important matters to attend to. Let's steer clear of trouble for now." I told him, and we turned to leave.

After taking only a few steps, I heard what sounded like a woman screaming for dear life come from inside the church.

I glanced back at Kirk and he looked back at the church. "Did you hear that? Sounds like someone is in trouble!" I said in a low voice.

"I reckon there ain't much we can do for her. Those muties are probably eatin' her alive right now." Kirk said.

Another scream rang out, only this time it was a male. "Damn it Kirk, there's more than one person in there!" I shouted.

More screams came from within the church and I started to head back before Kirk restrained me.

"What are you doing!? You…" Kirk placed a hand over my mouth, "Shhh, just listen kid. What do you hear?" he whispered.

Nothing. I couldn't hear a damn thing.

Kirk let me go, "Sometimes you just gotta accept that you can't save everyone kid."

I crouched down and placed a hand on my head.

_He's right, I can't save everyone…but god damn it that's not going to stop me from trying._

I pulled my sawn-off from its holster and darted off back towards the church. I heard Kirk swear under his breath as I took off, but he soon followed.

The Centaur spotted me just as I approached the building, but I slammed my sawn-off in to its tentacled maw and blew the back of its head out.

A Super Mutant yelled from inside the church and I could hear the creaking of the wood floor as he approached the front doorway. By now I had already reloaded my gun and had it aimed in his direction. I unloaded in to its chest and knocked it backwards.

Smoke poured from the end of the sawn-off as I loaded two more shells. I walked over to it and aimed the gun at its head.

_Bang!_

The top half of its skull split in two and its brains leaked out on to the ground.

I looked over and saw another mutant running towards me with a giant metallic sledgehammer in hand.

I reached for my AR but it was too late. The mutant slammed the hammer in to my side and sent me flying. I flew in to a tree and then fell to the ground. Everything started to spin and I couldn't even breathe.

The mutant screamed aloud as it charged me again, but Kirk jumped in and unloaded in to it with his dual 10 mil SMGs. Blood spewed from the back of the mutant as the bullets ripped through its body. It dropped the hammer, staggered back, and then fell on its back.

Kirk helped me up off the ground and brushed the dirt off my shoulders. "Damn it kid didn't I tell you to let it go?" he scolded.

I could hear someone crying in the church and didn't have time to answer him. I ran in and covered my mouth at the gruesome sight lain before me. A nameless female wastelander had been ripped in two and bits of her insides littered the floor as well as a wooden table.

Another male wastelander lie dead nearby. His legs had been ripped off but I couldn't see them anywhere. No doubt the mutants had already eaten them.

I trailed my gaze up the large room until I saw a lone woman huddled in the corner weeping uncontrollably. I cautiously approached her, and she screamed in fear when she saw me coming.

"Shhh, it's alright miss, I'm here to help." I assured her.

"They….they killed my sister! Oh god they ate her alive and laughed while they did it!" she screamed in horror.

I took her hand and brought her to her feet, and then pulled her close. I stroked her back and rocked her in my arms.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're safe now, and no one else will harm you." I whispered as she continued to sob.

Kirk stood at the doorway with a sad look on his face and nodded at me. I nodded back and continued to cradle the young woman in my arms.

After a good fifteen minute cry the young woman had finally calmed down enough to where she only sniffled every so often. I had led her outside where she wouldn't have to see the awful sight of her sister's torn body.

"Kirk, get my pack. Let's get her something to eat." I said.

"What's your name?" I asked while Kirk got the food.

"R-Rebecca." she answered, still a bit shaken up.

"I'm sorry about your sister Rebecca." I consoled her.

She didn't answer. Kirk handed me a box of potato crisps and I held them out for the young woman.

She hesitated at first, but then took them from me and started to eat.

"Thanks." she said as she chewed the food.

"Don't mention it." I replied.

When she finished eating she let the box fall to the floor and then curled up in to a ball and went to sleep.

I walked over to Kirk who was leaning against a dead tree smoking a cigarette. "How's she doin?" he asked as I came up behind him.

"Alright I guess. Horrible thing to have gone through." I told him.

He nodded, "I hope it was worth almost getting yourself killed over." he commented.

"If even one life can be saved by my actions you can be damn sure it's worth it." I replied in a serious tone.

Kirk took the cigarette from his mouth and blew a ring of smoke outwards. "What're we gonna do with the girl?" he asked.

"For now we'll let her rest here. We'll keep watch while she collects herself, and then decide what to do when she wakes up." I told him, and he nodded.

I walked to the opposite side of our little encampment and sat down near a broken sign and kept my AR on my lap.


	19. Chapter 19: Mister Popularity

**Chapter 19: Mister Popularity**

Rebecca slept for a good three hours before she started to stir. She was still upset when she awoke as evidenced by the couple of tears that ran down her dirt covered face. I hadn't even really taken the time to look her over until now. She was a good looking young woman, probably around my age. She had cropped orange hair, blue eyes, and a small nose. She wore a semi torn tank top and torn blue jeans.

"Jen!" she suddenly shouted before lying her head back down. No doubt Jen was her sister.

I walked over to her and knelt at her side. I held a bottle of water up to her mouth and she downed it all in seconds. I helped her to sit up and she placed her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

She didn't respond.

"Fair enough. Where are you from?"

"Nowhere really. My sister and I were business partners. We owned a trade caravan that dealt in weapons and armor, and had a good little thing going until we were ambushed by those damn Super Mutants." she replied in a weak voice.

"Are you proficient with a firearm?" I asked.

She nodded, "Moreso than most wastelanders. It doesn't help much when you're caught off guard though." she answered.

She then glanced back at the church. "My equipment should be back there but…could you get it for me? I don't think I could handle seeing…" she trailed off.

"I'll get it." I answered, and then headed for the church. "Kirk, you keep an eye out." I said as I walked off.

I had to plug my nose upon re entering the church. I spotted an old safe in the back corner of the building and headed over to it. I fiddled around with the lock until I eventually got it open. Inside I could see three separate packs, two sets of clothing, and a single Laser Pistol.

She took her own bag and her sisters, as well as the Laser Pistol. Kirk and I split the supplies and ammo from the third, which must've belonged to the man. Rebecca took one of the sets of clothing, which was a Merc Charmer outfit and put them on.

"What are you going to do now?" Kirk asked the young woman as she threw the bags over her shoulder.

"Well I hoped I would be able to accompany you fine gentlemen to repay you for saving my life." she said with an emotionless look.

I looked over at Kirk who nodded, but I was a little hesitant to let her join. I didn't want to get in to any inappropriate situations. I did have a woman pregnant with my child waiting for me back at the Citadel. It's not that I didn't trust myself, but this girl might try and pay me back by offering herself to me or something.

In the end I gave in to my pity for her and allowed her to journey with us, but not before telling her how dangerous our road would be. Despite all this, she still agreed to come with us, which I found a bit odd, but didn't give it much more thought than that.

We had covered a good distance from the church when Rebecca started to act a bit strange. She kept stealing looks at me and whenever I would catch her she would act like nothing was going on.

"I've got it!" she suddenly shouted, which startled me.

"You're the one they've been talking about on the radio. The Lone Wanderer, Savior of the Capitol Wasteland!" she shouted excitedly.

A slight grin came across my face and I shrugged my shoulders, "In the flesh."

She clapped her hands together and jumped around in front of me. Kirk gave me a strange look, which I returned with another shrug.

"I can't believe I was rescued by the Lone Wanderer! The girls will never believe this!" she spouted out.

"The girls?" I questioned.

She stopped her prancing and looked at me, "Oh, umm, yeah…the girls back in Megaton. You see, my sister and I would make frequent stops there and had sort of formed our own little group with some of the other girls in town who were our age." she quickly answered.

Kirk suddenly began to cough profusely as he had done the day before. I glanced back and he held his throat as he hacked and wheezed. He reached for the rag in his back pocket and brought it up to his mouth. The fit continued for much longer than before, and when he finished, I saw trickles of blood on his lips.

"Jesus Kirk, you're coughing up blood!" I said as I came to his side.

He wiped the blood away and stuffed the rag back in his pocket. "I'm fine. No need to worry about me." he tried to say.

"Coughing up blood isn't what I would consider to be fine." I replied.

"It's the cigarettes, they get to me sometimes. Really, you don't need to be concerned." he said as he coughed a few more times.

I looked at him with a raised brow until he finally signaled for me to get moving. Kirk always like to stay near the back, said he liked to think about lots of different things.

Rebecca walked up next to me and leaned in as we walked, "Is he alright?" she asked.

I shook my head, "I honestly don't know. He can be pretty stubborn when it comes to his health sometimes. I think it's best we leave it alone for now." I advised, and she nodded.

We travelled late in to the evening and when we came across an old power station we decided to rest for a time. There were a few feral ghouls waiting for us inside, but we made short work of them. Rebecca thoroughly impressed me with how she handled her Laser Pistol during the short fight. She managed to drop two of the ghouls in a little over one second. Even Kirk couldn't believe how good of a shot she was.

We took the bodies and tossed them outside so their stench wouldn't spread through the entire station. Kirk chose to sleep in a separate room so he could collect his thoughts. In reality though I presumed he chose to do so because he expected Rebecca, or me, to try something on each other. I tried to coax him in to staying nearby, but he just looked over at the young woman and then left.

I slept in the corner of the room on an old tarp I had found, and Rebecca slept a few feet away on a roll out sleeping bag she kept in her pack. I made sure not to fall asleep until she did, and when I was sure she was out, I drifted off.

I suddenly found myself awake again and realized that Rebecca had curled up next to me. My breathing had grown short and I had become completely rigid. I felt so uncomfortable, but at least she only wanted to be near me.

_Great, just great. I was afraid this would happen. Okay, just stay calm and don't try anything. She's probably still dealing with her grief and needs someone for comfort. Just go with it and it should pass._

Rebecca placed her arm on my chest and sighed in her sleep. I gulped hard and carefully moved her arm back to her side.

_This is going to be a long night._

The next morning I awoke to the sound of music coming from the next room. I looked down and noticed that Rebecca was still curled up next to me. I gently pulled myself away from her and made my way over to the room where Kirk had been sleeping.

He sat at an old metal desk and had a cigarette between his fingers. A small radio sat atop the desk and Kirk bobbed his head to the beat of the song playing.

"Where'd you find that?" I asked as I walked over to him.

The older man glanced over at me and smiled softly, "I found it in the back. With a little tweakin' I was able to get it to work. Sound comes through pretty clear don't ya think?" he asked before taking a puff of his cigarette.

"So." He started as he blew a ring of smoke at the wall, "You show her a good time?" he asked bluntly.

_I knew that's why he slept in here._

I pulled a chair up next to him and sighed, "No, actually, I didn't." I replied.

Kirk chuckled to himself, "Everything workin' down there?" he asked, and then coughed a bit.

I placed a hand over my face, "Yes, everything work's down there. Look, I've got a woman waiting for me back at the Citadel and she's kind of with child so that's why I didn't try anything with Rebecca." I explained.

"Funny, that didn't seem to stop you from lettin' the girl cuddle with you."

I sighed once again, "I didn't want to upset her. She's probably still grieving on the inside and got scared or something so she decided to bunk up with me." I said in my defense.

Kirk simply nodded his head and then went back to listening to the radio.

A short time later Rebecca came in to the room and sat herself down on the desk. She brushed a few strands of hair from her face and smiled at us.

"So are we heading out soon?" she asked.

I looked over at her and gave her the best smile I could, "Yeah, let's get a move on."

Kirk threw his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. "You two wait outside, I'll catch up with you in a few."

I gave him a puzzled look, but he just ignored me and so Rebecca and I headed outside.

Rebecca ran her foot across the dirt and held her hands behind her back.

"Why are you travelling with us Rebecca?" I asked without even looking her way.

It seemed like the question had caught her off guard as she stumbled with her words. "Because you rescued me from those Super Mutants. I thought I told you this already." she said in a frantic manner.

I laughed at this, "Come on, with that stunt you pulled last night it's clear that's not the case."

"I thought I heard something outside, so I got scared and decided to curl up next to you for protection." she told me.

I wore a stoic expression on my face, "Rebecca, I'm not stupid. Look, I figure I should tell you this now before anything else happens. I'm already involved with someone."

Rebecca looked down at the ground, "Good for you, but that doesn't have anything to do with me."

I shook my head and then looked back as Kirk emerged from the building, "Whatever you say." I said under my breath so she couldn't hear.

"You ready?" I asked the old timer.

"Yeah, let's get goin'." he answered.

An awkward silence had settled over the three of us as we travelled closer to our destination. Rebecca would look over at me every once in a while, but other than that everyone kept silent.

_God, why did I ever agree to let her come with us?_


	20. Chapter 20: Betrayal

Sorry that chapter 19 and this chapter took so long to upload guys and gals. The site has been acting up for me the past couple of days and wouldn't upload right, but it's fixed now so enjoy and tell me what you think!

**Chapter 20: Betrayal**

The next few days of our travels didn't go much smoother, and despite the fact that I had told Rebecca that I had someone waiting for me she still cuddled up with me every night we stopped to rest. After the third night I decided that if she did it one more time I would set things straight and make sure that she wouldn't try it again.

Kirk's health seemed to deteriorate with each passing day, but every time I tried to confront him about it he told me to stop worrying about it. I worried about him, but what more could I do when he remained so stubborn about it. I didn't really know how to handle each of my companions. I had spent such a long time travelling by myself that I haven't gotten used to dealing with others while journeying across the wastes.

I had become so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even realize that we had been spotted by a Raider scouting party until a bullet flew past my head. Kirk ran forward and tackled me to the ground.

"Get your head out of the clouds kid!" he shouted as we hit the ground.

Rebecca had become separated from us and crouched behind a rock with her Laser Pistol at the ready. I cursed under my breath at allowing the Raiders to catch me off guard, but it did me little good to beat myself up when we were under attack.

"We've got you outnumbered you little shit. Throw down your weapons and we might let you live!" a female Raider shouted from our front.

Three other raiders, all of whom were female, cheered aloud and fired a few rounds in to the air.

I looked over and realized that Rebecca was no longer taking cover behind the rock. In fact, I couldn't see her at all. Maybe she was trying to sneak up on the Raiders and give us a chance?

A few more bullets grazed the top of the boulder Kirk and I had taken cover behind.

"You can't hide forever!" the Raider shouted.

I pulled a frag from my belt and pulled the pin, "When this thing goes off, we pop up and fire like mad!" I said to Kirk.

I lobbed the grenade in the direction where I had last seen the Raiders before we took cover. It went off with a deafening bang and I heard one of the Raiders scream in pain.

I nodded at Kirk, and the two of us came out from behind the rock guns blazing. The women immediately dispersed and tried to find cover from our bullets. I saw a single female Raider lying near a spot of blackened earth grasping her leg. The bottom half of her left leg had been completely blown off, and she was losing blood fast.

I lifted my AR and aimed it her way, but for some reason I couldn't muster up the will to pull the trigger, so I let the weapon fall to my side. The woman lifted her hands and begged for her life. Tears streamed down her face, and her complexion grew pale. She wouldn't last long from all the blood loss, so I told myself the humane thing to do would be to end her suffering. I had to actually give myself a reason to kill this cold blooded killer.

I hesitated at first, but I slowly brought my rifle back up and looked down the sights.

_Bam!_

I placed a single bullet in her forehead, and she went limp. If this had been a male Raider, I wouldn't have hesitated…but there was just something about the fact that she was a woman that stayed my hand at first. It's not like she acted any different than a male Raider, and she was probably just as cold, but I couldn't pull the trigger at first.

The sound of someone cocking their gun came from behind me, and I turned to expect one of the other Raiders holding a gun to my face, but to my surprise, it was Rebecca.

"You bastard…you killed her! She was helpless and begged for her life but you killed her anyway!" she said through her teeth.

"She was dying Rebecca; if I didn't kill her she would have suffered a slow and painful death." I explained.

Rebecca shook her head and came a few steps closer, "You killed her…you killed my sister!" she cried.

Kirk had a surprised look on his face, and I'm sure I did as well. "What are you talking about Rebecca? Your sister was killed by Super Mutants remember? Have you lost it or something?" I asked.

Her pistol wielding hand started to shake and she continued to shake her head. I put my hands out in front of me signaling that I wouldn't try and hurt her, and Kirk did the same.

"Easy Rebecca, just put the gun down and relax." I said as I tried to approach her.

She placed her finger over the trigger, "Stop! Don't come any closer!" she shouted. She lifted the Laser Pistol and shifted it back and forth from my head to Kirk's.

I looked back and noticed that the three remaining woman from before were approaching, but Rebecca made no sign that she wanted to harm them, and they likewise made no sign that they were going to harm her.

"Glad to see you're okay Becky." The one who seemed to be the leader said as she circled around me.

Rebecca, or Becky, or whoever, wiped a tear from her eye and kept her pistol focused on me.

"Yeah, those damn mutants killed Carol." she replied.

The leader stood at her side and looked me over, "Is this him?" she asked, and Rebecca nodded.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you come with us." I growled.

Rebecca smirked, "Shut up, don't you dare judge me after what you just did. They call you the Savior of the Wastes, but really you're just as cold as the rest of us."

I shook my head, "I ended her suffering! God damn it, are you choosing not to hear what I'm saying!" I yelled. Yet even now, I had started to doubt myself.

"Tell yourself whatever you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you killed one of my sisters." she replied.

"Keep your gun fixed on them Becky, the girls and I are going to discuss what we should do with them." the leader ordered.

The other Raiders stepped a few feet away and whispered amongst each other.

"I saved your life." I said while giving Rebecca a cold stare.

"And I might've been a little more appreciative of that fact if you had saved hers." she retorted as she nodded towards the Raider I had killed.

_Could I have saved her? If I had chosen to check her over and offer my help would she had lived? God, what is wrong with me? Don't listen to her, she's just messing with your head! They're Raiders, they deserved to die for all the crimes they've commited right?_

I grasped my head and cursed under my breath.

_This is probably why she decided to come with us. So she could mess with my head by trying to get close to me and get me to drop my guard. Well, it looks like it worked._

"This is some bullshit." Kirk muttered.

"Keep quiet old man before I force you to." Rebecca scowled as she aimed the pistol at him.

The Raiders walked back over and the leader whispered in to Rebecca's ear, which got a sneer from her.

"Turn your weapons over, you're coming with us." Rebecca demanded.

We had no choice but to comply, they outnumbered us four to two, and I didn't want Kirk's blood on my hands should I fail at trying to escape.

"You win this round." I grimaced as I handed my weapons over to one of the Raiders.

Kirk was reluctant at first, but he soon gave up his weapons and placed his hands on his head.

Rebecca pushed against the back of my head with the barrel of her gun, "Get moving." she ordered.

The Raiders pushed us along the barren of the wastes until late in the evening. As we journeyed through a particular part of the wastes that was dense in trees, a large silhouette caught the corner of my eye.

"Shit, get low, there's a Yao Guai over there." the Raider leader whispered.

"You want us to take care of it boss?" another Raider asked.

The leader shook her head, "No, let's just slip by unnoticed. Those things are nasty in a fight, and even nastier when cornered."

An idea suddenly came to me, and I looked over at Kirk who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Hey, over here!" I yelled out as loud as I could.

Rebecca suddenly kicked me right in the balls and i fell like a sack of bricks. I heard loud growls coming from our left and knew that my plan had started to work.

The large Yao Guai darted through the trees and the Raiders unloaded their weapons on it as it grew closer. The mutated bear suddenly leapt forward and got one of the women right in the gut. She fell on her back and screamed in agony as her insides poured from her wound.

When the beast landed it did a quick turn and headed back towards us. It roared aloud as bullets tore in to its hardened flesh, and it took another swipe at the Raiders cutting her clean across the throat. The woman grasped her neck and gurgled as blood trickled between her fingers and down her arm.

"Kill that fucking thing!" the leader shouted.

When it came back for a third round, it finally took enough bullets and laser bolts and collapsed on the ground just inches away from the leader.

Rebecca came up to me and pressed her heel against my throat, "You're fucking dead after pulling a stupid stunt like that!" she said coldly, and then pressed against my throat even harder.

She aimed her gun at my head and grinned maliciously, "So ends the tale of the Lone Wanderer." she spat.

I quickly grabbed on to her leg and flipped her on to her back before she could pull the trigger. The leader aimed her gun at me but promptly received a bullet to the temple and she crumpled to the floor. In all the chaos Kirk had grabbed a 10 mil off one of the dead Raiders.

Rebecca scrambled to her feet and placed her weapon against my stomach. She grabbed me by the collar and brought me to my feet and then placed the gun against my cheek.

Kirk held his pistol at the ready.

Rebecca laughed hysterically, "Put your weapon down old man, or I put one in his brain." she threatened.

Kirk stood perfectly still, looked me in the eye, and then smiled ever so slightly. I knew what he was thinking, and I knew it would hurt like hell. Sweat poured down my face, and after a few moments, I tilted my head to give him the go.

"Sorry about this kid." he whispered, and then fired a single bullet in to my shoulder which had no plating covering it, and it went straight through and hit Rebecca. I dropped to my knees and grasped my shoulder in pain while Rebecca staggered back. Kirk placed two more bullets in her stomach, and with one final breath, her gun fell from her hand and she fell to the ground.

"Damn, what a waste of a fine piece of ass." he said half jokingly.

Kirk tossed the gun to the ground and came to my aid. "If you woulda listened to me back at the church we wouldn't be in this mess." he scolded, but I just laughed.

"Now I have a bullet wound in each shoulder, that'll make a cool scar." I joked.

Kirk took a Stimpak from his bag and injected it near the entrance, and then used some ant-bacterial fluid to clean it out before wrapping it up in bandages.

"You still want to head to Little Lamplight in your condition?" he asked me with a concerned look on his face.

I gritted my teeth at the searing pain in my shoulder and nodded, "I don't have much choice. Maybe we can rest once we get there."

"Hangin' out with a bunch of brats huh? Sounds like loads of fun." he replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah…just help me up and we'll get going. We shouldn't be too far off now." I said, and Kirk helped me to my feet. We gathered our weapons and other belongings and started off once again.

As we reached the edge the dead forest I checked my map and saw that we were only a few miles away from Little Lamplight. A loud humming caught my ears, and I looked around to try and find the source. My eyes went wide when I realized what was making the noise.

Two of the same flying machines I had seen at the purifier the day my father was killed flew overhead and were heading in the direction of Little Lamplight.

"No…they must know where the G.E.C.K is! Come on Kirk, we need to pick up the pace!" I shouted, and the two of us broke in to a sprint and ran towards our destination.


	21. Chapter 21: Little Lamplight

**Chapter 21: Little Lamplight**

When we were just a few hundred yards from our destination, we could see the two Enclave flying machines, or Vertibirds as Kirk said they were called, settled on the ground. There were at least fifteen Enclave soldiers of different ranks and looks roaming about outside the entrance to Little Lamplight. Kirk and I took cover behind a pile of rubble and debated how to best approach the situation.

"This is suicide kid. There's no way we can take em all without either one or both of us gettin' killed! Besides, you're shoulder's still freshly wounded, and that'll throw your aim off since that's your gun hand." Kirk chastised.

"Fuck…I was afraid this would happen! We need to get past these guys and get the G.E.C.K. before they do!" I half whispered, half shouted.

"Maybe I can help with that." a familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see the Mysterious Stranger standing as tall and proud as ever. Kirk drew his weapon on him as soon as he saw him, but I held my hand out and told him he was a friend.

"I'll distract these goons out here so you can slip inside, but once you're in there, it's up to you to get the G.E.C.K." the stranger suggested.

"You're crazy if you think you can take on fifteen Enclave soldiers friend." Kirk cut in.

"Kirk…he's the Mysterious Stranger, the one they talk about on the radio." I explained, and Kirk's eyes went wide in amazement.

"Holy shit! I thought the people who said they'd seen him were trippin' on Psycho or somethin'!" Kirk shouted.

"Enough with the introductions, we've got work to do." the stranger interrupted.

He drew his .44 Magnum from his trench coat and checked his ammo. With a slight smirk, he walked passed us and took aim at a nearby soldier.

His Magnum fired off with a loud bang and blew a hole through the soldier's head.

"Intruder alert! Everyone open fire!" an officer shouted from within the group.

Within seconds every other soldier had their sights focused on the stranger. Kirk and I took this as our cue and climbed over the rubble we were hiding behind. We snuck behind one of the Vertibirds to keep out of sight and headed for the cave entrance. One of the soldiers managed to spot us, and right as he took aim the front part of his helmet exploded in to a bloody mess.

"Plasma out!" a soldier shouted as he tossed a plasma grenade at the stranger.

The stranger held his hand out and caught the grenade and then ran towards the soldier who threw it and slammed it in to his visor before jumping away. The grenade went off and incinerated the top half of the soldier.

I spotted the chain link gate which led underground and pointed it out to Kirk. We made one last mad dash for the gate and kicked it down upon arrival. A few more magnum rounds blared from behind us, and then we heard nothing.

"You have got to get me his autograph one of these days kid." Kirk said to me through ragged and tired breaths once we were underground.

I laughed quietly under my breath and nodded in reply.

Strands of lights hung from the roof of the cave and I could make out crayon drawings all over the cave walls. Undoubtedly this place had indeed been run by kids. We passed a wooden sign which read, "Little Lamplight: No mungo's allowed!" Whatever a mungo was, I had no idea.

The next thing we found was a makeshift metal gate which lifted up off the ground to grant passage to visitors. It was unmanned, and had already been opened. I spotted an Enclave soldier smoking a cigarette who had let his guard down.

_I'm going to enjoy this._

I quietly pulled my sawn-off from my thigh and pressed it against the back of his skull. "Please, don't kill me, I'll tell you anything you want to know!" he begged.

This almost made me want to pull the trigger right then and there, but I kept my cool and decided to get a bit of info from him.

"What have you done with the children?" I interrogated.

The soldier had already began to shake in his armor and held his hands over his head.

"W-we rounded them up and p-placed them in a temporary holding area in the b-b-back!" he managed to say through his fear.

I pressed the gun against his head, "You didn't harm any of them did you?" I asked in an intimidating voice.

He shook his head, "N-no, I only stood by while they gathered them all. There were three others who were assigned to it." he explained.

"One last question…what are you looking for?"

"I d-don't know…I'm just a lackey, they don't t-tell me much." he replied.

I slammed him in to the wall and placed the sawn-off under his chin, "You're lying! I know you're trying to find the G.E.C.K. so you can power the purifier and put your little scheme in to action!" I shouted in a fit of rage.

The man began to cry, "I swear to God I don't know! I only know that it's high priority and failure won't be tolerated!"

I threw him to the ground and then turned towards Kirk.

"Thank you for sparing my life!" the soldier praised with a look or relief on his face.

I turned to face him and gave him a scowl, "Who said anything about sparing your life?" I said coldly.

I aimed the sawn-off at his head and passed my finger over the trigger.

The man held his hands out, "W-wait! I told you what you wanted to-"

_Blam!_

The shells tore through the soldier's face and his brains spilled out the back of his skull. I slowly lowered the gun and placed two more shells in the chamber. I looked over at Kirk who gave me a semi-frightened glare.

"Damn kid, I've never seen this side of you before, and I'm not sure I like it." He commented.

"I hate them Kirk. They took my father and I hate them. They all deserve to die, every single one of them." I spat.

Kirk just glared at me for the next few moments before finally shrugging it off. What could he do about it in the end?

The rage I had felt that fateful day at the purifier had returned, and even though I had killed this soldier, it only grew with each passing moment we trekked through the cave.

We caught two more soldiers off guard. They threw their hands up and tried to surrender, but I felt no pity for them. I fired three bursts from my AR in to each of them and sent them crumpling to the cave floor.

Kirk grimaced at how cold and heartless I had become, but he kept silent.

Finally after we had walked a good distance in we found three soldiers standing guard outside a steel door. These must be the soldiers who had rounded up all of the inhabitants.

"Drop your weapons!" I shouted as Kirk and I came in to their line of sight.

The soldiers lifted their weapons and returned the order. A smirk came across my face.

_Finally some Enclave bastard's who weren't a bunch of pussies._

We stood at a stand still for a good five minutes before I finally squeezed the trigger and painted the walls with one of the soldier's blood. I caught a plasma bolt in the chest, but luckily the armor plating took most of the impact; though it did warp the metal quite a bit. Kirk pumped another soldier full of lead before receiving a bullet to the stomach. I got the last soldier with a sawn-off blast to the chest.

Kirk went over to the wall and leaned against it for support. He coughed and wheezed as he cringed in pain.

"I knew it would only be a matter of time before I caught one to the gut." he said in a joking manner.

I ran to his side and pulled some Med-X, some insta-clot, and a few Stimpaks from my pack. I injected the Stimpaks in to his aide and then injected the Med-X in to his arm. The insta-clot helped to stop some of the bleeding but it would start up again if not treated properly.

I helped him to a nearby bench and sat him down. He continued to cough profusely and a bit of blood leaked form his mouth.

"How do I look kid?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"Like shit." I replied, which got as chuckle from him.

I finished treating his wound by wrapping it in the last of my cloth bandages and handed him my last bottle of purified water.

He opened the bottle up and took a swig, but ended up spitting most of it out. He cringed again as the liquid ran down his throat.

"Hand me a beer would ya kid? There should be a couple in my bag."

I took a bottle from his bag and handed it to him. He popped the cap off and downed half of it in one go.

"Ahh, that's gonna help numb the pain and slow the bleeding." he told me.

I could hear voices coming from behind the door. I had almost completely forgotten about the children. I shot the lock from the door and kicked it open. The room was completely dark, so I turned my wrist light on and shined it in. My heart sank at the sight of the helpless kids huddling in the corner of the room.

"Leave us alone you fucking maggot!" one of the not so helpless kids wearing an off green bucket helmet and a green jacket that was clearly too big for him yelled.

I was a bit taken aback by his attitude, as well as his choice of words. "Easy kid, I'm here to help you. The Enclave soldiers who were watching guard are dead, and it's safe to come out now." I told him.

"Fat fucking chance! How do I know you won't try anything funny!?" he asked.

I went back out and drug an Enclave soldier's corpse over and showed it to him, "Look, he's dead, I killed him." I said to help try and convince him.

"Hmm, gimme one of their guns and I'll trust you." he demanded.

I rolled my eyes and then picked one of the scattered guns off the ground and handed it to him.

"Do you even know how to use that thing kid?" I asked sarcastically.

"Of course I know how to fucking use it you moron!" he shouted, and then turned to tell the others everything was alright.

All in all there were about ten kids who had been captured, and they all jumped and skipped about when they realized they were free.

The foul mouthed kid from before approached me and held out his hand in friendship, "You know, you ain't that bad for a mungo." he said.

"Mungo? What's that?" I asked.

The kid laughed, "You are, didn't you hear me call you that just now?" he asked matter-of-factly.

I shook my head, "Whatever…you got a name kid?"

"Name's MacCready, and that's Mayor MacCready to you." he replied.

"Name's Jason. I'm impressed that you kept so calm and put yourself in front of the others when you thought I might be a threat." I complimented.

"You're damn right you're impressed. These kids are my responsibility. What kind of mayor would I be if I ran away like a little bitch whenever they're in danger?" he asked rhetorically.

Despite his foul mouth, I could tell that he really did care for the others and maybe this tough front was some sort of guise he wore while in front of them so they would trust him with their lives.

MacCready glanced over at Kirk, "Who's the old man?" he asked.

"Oh that's Kirk, he helped me take these guys out and rescue you." I replied.

"He doesn't look too good." MacCready commented.

I looked back and saw that Kirk's complexion had become pale, and he looked incredibly fatigued.

"Shit, you doing alright Kirk?" I asked him as I knelt by his side.

"Don't worry kid, it's just the booze kicking in." he said, but I wasn't convinced.

"You just take it easy for now." I told him and then turned to MacCready, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about treating wounds would you?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Sorry mungo, none of us really know anything about that. He can rest here if he wants and we'll keep an eye on him." he replied.

I had expected as much. I sighed aloud and then placed a hand on Kirk's shoulder, "You'll be alright here with these kids won't you?"

He looked around at all the kids frolicking about and smiled, "I think I'll manage kid. I wish I wasn't so banged up so I could help you finish your task." he said.

"Don't worry about it. You've helped me plenty up to this point, and I think you've earned a rest from all the fighting."

He took a hold of my wrist and tightened his grip, "Make your dad proud kid, I'll be rootin' for ya." he said in a serious tone.

I patted his chest and nodded, "I'll see you later."

MacCready led me to the deepest part of the cave where another metal gate laid waiting. It too had already been opened and no doubt more Enclave soldiers would be waiting for me. Not to mention the Super Mutants that Kirk had told me about which also resided in the next part of the cave known as "Murder Pass". Maybe the Enclave had been wiped out by the inhabiting Super Mutants, although I'd rather pop some Enclave heads instead of muties.

I shook MacCready's one last time, "Good luck mungo, I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thanks MacCready, you're alright." I replied.

I then turned to face the narrow passage which led to Murder Pass and cautiously made my way down. I heard the gate creak shit behind me, and I knew the only way to go now would be forward.


	22. Chapter 22: The Horror

**Chapter 22: The Horror**

The tunnel grew darker as I travelled further down, but I had my wrist light to help me find my way. When I reached the large wooden door at the end of the tunnel it had become almost completely pitch black. I checked the vital signs on my Pip Boy and they all read normal, aside from the flickering shoulder which still felt sore. I did a quick ammo check and then reached for the handle on the door.

I nearly shit myself when the door swung open because a dead Enclave soldier fell on top of me. I pushed him aside and saw that his visor had been blown out, and dried blood stained the face of the helmet.

I looked in to the dark doorway and gulped hard before making my way in. I stayed low and kept my AR at the ready. I shined my wrist light up at the ceiling and noticed that all of the lights that hung from wires on the ceiling had been blown out.

I found two more Enclave soldiers lying face down in pools of their own blood. I had started to think that maybe the Enclave had gotten in over their head when they decided to take on Murder Pass, but I soon found out that wasn't the case. More and more Super Mutant corpses came in to view as I delved deeper in to the cave. Most had scorch marks all over their skin, and quite a number of them were missing limbs or their heads.

Signs of battle were everywhere. Broken guards towers, collapsed catwalks, scorch marks on the cave walls, and chunks of rock littered the ground. All in all it seemed that the Enclave had lost a total of nine soldiers, while the muties had suffered nearly three times that amount in casualties.

It took me about twenty five minutes to make it to the end of Murder Pass. The rock walls had changed in to cold, rusted metal walls which led up to a single electric door. It stood there under an ominous red light and sent a chill down my spine. I finally mustered up the courage to go on and approached the door. I flipped the switch to the right and within seconds the door slid open granting me entrance.

As soon as I took even one step inside the Vault I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I thought Vault 108 was creepy, this place made that Vault seem like Fun Land. The only lighting which illuminated the narrow corridors were tiny red lights which made everything look menacing.

My breathing had become short, and I made sure to look over my shoulder with each step I took. God knows what would be waiting in here for me. Enclave, Super Mutants…or maybe something worse from what Kirk had told me about this place.

I rounded the first corner and was met with a gruesome sight. Blood and gore had been splattered all over the walls, and various disembodied limbs littered the floor. Half torn torsos were leaned up against the walls, and giant claw marks had been engraved in to the metal of the floor, walls, and ceiling.

_What in God's name?_

I cautiously made my way down each corridor and peeked around every corner before moving on. As I turned the corner to a particularly long corridor, I heard what sounded like something sharp clicking against the wall coming from a door to my right. There were no windows that would allow me to see what I would be facing, so with my finger pressed tightly against the trigger of my gun, I flipped the switch next to the door.

It shot open with a loud whoosh and a shadowy figure darted passed me and knocked me on my back. I unloaded on to it as it crawled away, and heard it shriek when one of the bullets made contact. I didn't kill it though…only harmed it. The horrible noises it made as it slid along the cold floor of the Vault grew feint, and then vanished altogether.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and let out a few exasperated breaths before finally getting myself back on my feet. A low hissing noise caught my ear, and I shined my wrist light down the corridor at my front. Another crashing noise came from my left and I swung my weapon in its direction. More drops of sweat trailed down my face as I waited for what might be coming.

"Just fucking show yourself already!" I shouted in to the shadows.

A deep bellowing growl came from behind me, and I turned just as some horribly mutated creature leapt forth. I swung my AR across what I assumed to be its face and knocked it in to the wall. It quickly collected itself and made another go for me by swiping its elongated fingers across my chest. Its claws slashed across the metal plating of my armor without piercing through and hitting my skin. I reached for my sawn-off and aimed it as best I could at the creature's shrieking maw. I fired off and the creature reared back in pain while grabbing on to its face. It thrashed about the narrow corridor and slammed its giant tail in to my side. I slammed against the wall and sprawled out when I hit the floor. The creature cried aloud and made another go for me, but I dove between its thick legs and avoided the blow.

_Holy fucking shit what is this thing!_

I could barely make any prominent features out in the dimly lit corridors. All I knew was that this thing was huge, angry, and it wanted to mutilate me. I took off down the corridor with a slight limp in my step and loaded two more shells in to my sawn-off. I glanced over and realized that the thing was hot on my tall; so tall that it had to creep along on all fours. It hissed and snarled at me as it came closer, and I spun around and whipped my sawn-off in the direction of its head and fired off once again. The flash from the end of the barrel gave me a split second look that I would never be able to get out of my mind.

The creature had green, scaly skin and was built like a fucking brick house. It had long, bony fingers which tipped off at two inch razor sharp claws, and its legs were thick and had just as menacing claws on its feet as it did at the end of its fingers. It had an elongated snout which ended at a gaping maw lined with rows of dagger like teeth, and two horns protruded from atop its head.

The shotgun blast took one of the beast's horns off and it screeched in dismay. It leapt forward and swiped across my chest again, this time managing to break the skin. I yelled at the searing pain in my chest and covered the wound with my arm to help contain the bleeding. The creature jumped for me again as I rounded another corner and slammed in to the wall head first. It staggered back and shook its head before looking in my direction and snarling from deep within its throat.

It went down on all fours and continued with its low snarling. The light from my wrist reflected off its black, soulless eyes as it crept ever closer. I slowly raised my AR and took aim. It let loose another blood chilling screech and started towards me in a mad dash. I let loose as soon as it decided to strike and didn't stop until the massive creature finally fell just inches from my feet. Dark green blood oozed from the bullet wounds I had given it and ran under my boots. It let loose a few blood choked breaths before finally going still.

I backed up against the wall and slowly slid to the floor. My breathing had now become heavy and spaced, and sweat ran down my face like a waterfall. The gashes in my chest throbbed intensely, and I had to take a moment to get myself breathing normally again. I checked my vital signs and wasn't surprised to see my chest flashing and my heart rate had shot way up.

I took a Stimpak from my bag and jammed it in to my chest through one of the incisions in the armor. I grunted in pain as the fluid released in to my system to help numb the pain and increase the speed of the healing process. I didn't have much else to treat it with though, but luckily the bleeding had already stopped and I hadn't lost all that much.

_What type of hellish experiments went on in this place back when it was still active?_

I grabbed on to a windowsill above me and pulled myself up. Almost immediately my legs felt like they wanted to buckle under my own weight, but I took the pain and leaned against the wall as I continued further in to the Vault. I had to stop every ten minutes to catch my breath, and my head had started to pulsate and a slight ringing noise had entered my ears.

I finally came to an area that had three different paths to take. One led to the left, and was completely dark. Another lie to my right and was dimly lit, and the last was at my front. I opted for the path on my right and slowly made my way down. Upon turning another corner, I was caught off guard by a deep and unfriendly sounding voice which called out to me from within one of the rooms.

"You! Human! Come over here won't you?" it demanded. The voice sounded exactly like a Super Mutant, but it didn't speak in the same child like manner.

I made my way towards the voice and came upon a single window looking in to a sort of dorm room. I pressed my forehead against the glass and looked in, but I couldn't see anything. Just then, a Super Mutant adorned in a shredded up Vault suit walked up to the window. I jumped back in surprise and held my AR at the ready.

The mutant held its hands up, "Please, I mean you no harm human. Put your weapon down so we can talk." it said; which caught me off guard.

_An intelligent mutant…what's next?_

"What are you?" I said as I lowered my gun and walked back up to the window.

The mutant laughed a deep laugh, "I think you mean _who_ am I. I am called Fawkes." it, or rather, he replied.

"And what might a peculiar mutant such as yourself be doing locked up in there all by your lonesome?" I asked.

"My more violent brethren from Murder Pass didn't like the fact that I have retained much of my former self, and so because of my difference they locked me in here. I was able to keep myself sane by searching through the various archives on this computer terminal here. Over time I started to long for the outside world, but knew that I would never be accepted even if I did mange to escape." he explained with a look of sadness on his face.

I shook my head, "Well, you don't have to worry about the other muties, the Enclave wiped them out…speaking of which, have you seen any soldiers wearing bulky metal armor around?"

Fawkes shook his giant head, "I'm afraid not. I did hear a quarrel break out a couple of hours ago. I could make out human screams as well as loud shrieks. There are horrible creatures roaming these halls. Failed experiments which eventually broke free of their captors and killed everyone."

"You don't say." I said sarcastically, the image of the creature I had fought still fresh in my mind.

"By the way, my name's Jason." I added with a feint smile.

A shrill cry rang out form the darkness behind me, and I turned and fixed my aim on the dark corridor I had just come from.

"They are coming. Please my friend, you must help me out of here. I know what it is you seek, for what other reason could there be for you to be in such a place? You're looking for the G.E.C.K." Fawkes stated.

I glanced back at him and had a curious look on my face, "You mean to tell me there is an actual G.E.C.K. in this Vault?"

Fawkes nodded, "Yes, there is. I read about it in the computer database. Now, if you set me free, I can help you deal with those creatures and lead you to the object you seek." he pleaded.

The shriek came down the corridor once again and I focused my attention back on the corridor. "How do I get you out?" I asked without averting my gaze.

I heard Fawkes rub his hands together, "There is an override switch just down the hall there. Activate it, and it will unlock my cell. Be warned though, the override will open _all_ of the locked cells in this part of the Vault, and I can't guarantee there won't be any nasty surprises lying in wait." he said grimly.

I waited a few moments to make sure that nothing had wandered too close, and then darted off down the hall towards the override switch. I slid up to the switch and put one hand around it, and pulled it down. Emergency lights suddenly flickered on, and an alarm had been set off. All of the cell doors on the block suddenly slid open.

_Well if they didn't know where I was before they sure as hell do now._

I ran back to where I had met Fawkes and found his cell already empty.

"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath.

"Ready my friend?" the familiar mutant voice called from my back.

I turned to find Fawkes towering over me, "Umm, yeah, let's get going."

I followed closely behind Fawkes as we ran down the various hallways and corridors of the inner sanctum. So far none of the creatures that had been loosed had spotted us and I hoped to God that they had all escaped to the outside world.

One of the walls suddenly gave way as one of the lizard-like creatures smashed through and tackled Fawkes to the ground. The creature extended its deadly claws and slashed Fawkes across the back. Fawkes yelled aloud and then grabbed the creature by its neck. He slammed it against the wall and backhanded it across its snout and then tossed it aside.

He cracked his knuckles and laughed to himself, "Stand back Jason, I'll take care of this one." he said, almost sounding like a normal Super Mutant.

The creature shook its head and got back on all fours and readied itself in a pouncing stance. It lashed out at Fawkes and got him across the chest before he punched it right in the jaw and then landed an uppercut under its chin and smashed the top of its head in to the ceiling. The creature grunted aloud and then tried to wrestle free of Fawkes's grip. The mutant grabbed the creature by the horns and threw it against the wall, which made a huge dent in the thick metal.

Fawkes screamed aloud and then tackled the hulking beast to the floor. The creature clamped on to his right arm with its massive jaws and blood leaked from the bite marks. Fawkes gave it a left hook right to the temple which caused it to let go of his arm. He then grabbed on to the top and bottom half of the creatures open mouth and tore the bottom half of its jaw off. The creature whimpered and then went limp.

Fawkes tossed the lower part of its jaw aside and then got himself to his feet. His eyes seemed to glaze over as he turned to face me, and I could see that even though he was intelligent and well mannered, he still had that natural Super Mutant rage hidden deep within his self-conscious.

"Let us continue." was all he said before taking off again.

Before long we reached an area of the Vault that was riddled with all sorts of terminals and data collecting machines.

"We are close." Fawkes told me.

We finally stopped in front of an open doorway in a small room and Fawkes held his hand up, "You wait here." he ordered.

"What, why?" I asked.

"Because the corridors leading up to the G.E.C.K. from this point are filled with a lethal amount of radiation, and since I am a mutant, I am unaffected by such things." he explained.

I simply nodded in response and Fawkes took off. It took him roughly ten minutes before he returned with a small, box shaped object in his hand. He held it out to me and smiled a lipless smile, "Here you are my friend." he said as I held my hand out. I wrapped my fingers around the cube and pulled it close.

_Finally, after all this long searching, I've found it. I've found the G.E.C.K. Mom, dad…I'm going to take that purifier back from the Enclave and install this thing even if it kills me._


	23. Chapter 23: I'm Back

**Chapter 23: I'm Back**

I turned on my heels and started to head back to Fawkes when a shiny metallic orb rolled in front of me out of the darkness. A circular hole opened up at the top and a thick gaseous substance poured from it. I covered my mouth and ran past the orb when another orb rolled across the floor and started releasing the same type of gas. I turned another corner and a third orb rolled out and released the gas. I was surrounded on all sides by the gas now. It must've been knock-out gas because I could feel myself starting to slip in and out of consciousness as I attempted make my way through the gas.

I couldn't take it anymore. I leaned up against the wall and held my throat tightly as I began to cough profusely. Everything became blurry and I slid down to my knees and then on to my stomach. Two separate sets of large metal boots came in to view as I lay on the floor and I could hear voices, but they were muffled and I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Just before I slipped out of consciousness, I saw a large yellow figure come up from behind the ones who had ambushed me and it roared aloud. And then there was nothing.

When I finally came to I found myself looking up at a familiar face. My surroundings were pretty dim but I knew it was Fawkes. He wore a look of concern as he looked me over. Blood covered his chest and part of his face, but it didn't belong to him.

I coughed a few times before sitting up, "Fawkes? What happened?" I asked still in a daze.

"Take it easy my friend. You were ambushed by soldiers in metal armor. I heard the hissing sound of the gas and ran to see what had happened. I found two soldiers standing in front of me and I saw you lying unconscious on the floor. I dispatched the soldiers with little problem and brought you back here to Murder Pass." he explained.

I placed my hand on my forehead and moaned, "Those fucking Enclave cowards waited for me to get the G.E.C.K. so they wouldn't have to worry about going through the irradiated chambers themselves!"

I pulled the small device from my pack and looked it over. It hadn't sustained any damage thankfully. I ran my finger over the surface and could feel all of the different engravings carved in to it. Strange that such a small device could hold the power to alter the wasteland's future in to a brighter one.

"What do you intend to use that device for?" Fawkes questioned; breaking my train of thought.

"I'm going to use it to purify the largest amount of water anyone has ever attempted to purify at once…the Tidal Basin." I replied without looking his way.

"A noble cause my friend."

I looked over at the big yellow giant, "Fawkes…I made a mistake back there. I should have invited you to join me, but I got so caught up in what others might think. I'm sorry."

Fawkes shook his head and held up his hand, "I understand, most humans would probably shoot me first and ask questions later. Think nothing of it."

"I would very much like for you to accompany me, I could use another friend to help me with my quest." I told him.

Fawkes' eyes went wide and he looked stunned, "You…want me to come with you? You're not worried about what others might think?"

I shook my head and smiled, "Not anymore. You are one of a kind Fawkes, and I could use someone with your strength and intellect. Something big is about to happen, and I need all the help I can get."

Fawkes walked over to the cave wall and placed a hand against it. He stood in silence for a few moments before finally turning to face me, "I would be honored to help you see this to the end!" he answered with a fire in his eyes.

I got myself to my feet and held my hand out to him to seal the deal. He took it in kind and laughed aloud as he shook my hand.

"Come on, I've got another friend waiting back in Little Lamplight. Remain weary for now. Your appearance might frighten the children who live there, not to mention my friend." I told him, and he nodded signaling that he understood.

When we emerged back in to Little Lamplight, I could hear the sound of children playing and music echoing against the walls. I glanced back and could see that Fawkes looked a little nervous about what might happen. We walked in to a large open space within the cave and almost immediately every set of eyes within were looking in my direction.

The children stopped playing, and someone had turned to music off. I held my hands up to the kids and slowly stepped forward, "It's alright, it's just me." I reassured them.

I continued forward and could see that all of the children were deathly afraid of the giant trailing behind me, but I couldn't blame them. I caught whispers here and there, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

I found Kirk sitting at an old table in one of the makeshift shacks inside the cave.

"Kirk! Glad to see you're doing well!" I yelled out to him.

His head suddenly shot up and he turned to look at me, "Well I'll be, you ma-Holy shit!" he shouted in surprise upon seeing Fawkes.

"It's alright Kirk, believe it or not, he's a friend." I told him, but he still sat motionless in his chair.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Fawkes said softly.

"What the….it talks like a normal person? How is this possible?" the old man asked.

"I didn't get the details, but I do know that he can be trusted. Kirk, he helped me get my hands on a G.E.C.K.!" I explained, and then held out the small device to him.

Kirk looked shocked, "Well I'll be damned!"

I placed the cube back in my pack, "It felt wrong not to invite him to join me. I hope this doesn't effect your decision to stay with me."

Kirk looked up at Fawkes and then back at me, "Kid, we've been through a lot together. If you say he can be trusted, than I believe you, and that's enough." he replied.

I let loose a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

I looked back at the kids who were still rather frightened, "Don't worry, he won't hurt you." I tried to reassure them, but it didn't seem to help much.

I could tell Fawkes felt uncomfortable so I thought it would be best to leave this place as soon as possible. MacCready gave us a small amount of medical supplies and ammo, and soon we would be on our way.

I took a deep breath when we stepped back out in to the vast wasteland. Night had fallen, and a crescent moon loomed overhead. Fawkes looked at everything around him and took it all in.

"My first breath of outside air. This is fantastic." he commented as he breathed in and out deeply.

"I wish I could share your enthusiasm towards this hell hole." Kirk retorted, but Fawkes ignored his comment.

I checked the map on my Pip Boy, "It'll take us nearly a week and a half to get back to the Citadel from here, so we better get moving and stop only when necessary." I told them, and they agreed.

We made it back to the Citadel with little trouble, and I wasn't surprised when every Brotherhood member patrolling outside it aimed their guns our way. I looked up at Fawkes who scratched his bald head, "Sorry not everyone is as accepting as I am."

Paladin Bael and two other Brotherhood Knights came out to meet us. They had their weapons fixed on us, but mostly they were aiming at Fawkes.

"What's that filthy mutant doing travelling with you!?" Bael demanded as he approached.

"Lower your weapons Bael, or do you not remember what happened last time?" I scowled.

Bael sneered and then laughed aloud, "Shut your mouth, I'm the one asking questions here!" he said as he shoved the barrel of his Laser Rifle in to my face.

"His name is Fawkes, and he isn't an ordinary Super Mutant. He's very intelligent _and_ from what I've seen I'd say he might even be stronger than your average mutie. You can trust him, he helped me get my hands on the G.E.C.K. and when I told him what I wanted to use it for he agreed to help us in our fight to make the wasteland a better place." I explained.

Bael fixed his sights back on Fawkes, "If he's so intelligent why doesn't he say something?" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"I usually refrain from speaking to idiots with itchy trigger fingers." Fawkes retorted.

The two Knights accompanying Bael let loose little chuckles and Bael stared daggers at them and told them to shut up.

"With a mouth like that you'll find yourself in deep trouble if you're not careful mutie." Bael spat.

Just then the radio on Bael's chest fired up, "Paladin Bael, stop giving Jason so much shit and let him in!" a female voice rang out from the speaker.

Bael looked annoyed and pressed the button on the side of the radio, "Roger that, I'll send him you're way, over." he growled.

"You're lucky Sentinel Lyons trusts you so much kid." he said and then turned to leave us.

I looked back at my companions, "Let's go and catch everyone up on what's happened. I've been gone for over three weeks, and they'll want to know what's up."

We made our way through the raised outer gate and then walked through the inner courtyard towards the A ring. Upon entry everyone glanced in our direction and wouldn't take their eyes off of us. I felt sorry for Fawkes; everyone was so quick to judge him…if only they knew how loyal and trustworthy he could be.

Kirk couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed when he laid his eyes on Liberty Prime. He had no idea that something like it even existed.

We found Sarah and her father overseeing the repairs on the massive robot and didn't even turn to face us at fist when we walked up to them.

Elder Lyons threw a curious look the mutant's way before saying anything. Sarah wore the same look and Fawkes avoided making eye contact with them.

Elder Lyons cleared his throat, "I'm not going to ask about your…companion there. I trust you know what you're doing in taking on such company. Just make sure that he remains either with you or with your other friend there while he's here. I wouldn't want anything to happen to him, now would I want my men to feel uncomfortable."

I nodded, "Fine."

Elder Lyons walked over to the terminal at Liberty Prime's feet, "Well, now that's taken care of let's get down to business. Have you found the object you had been looking for?" he asked while staring up at the robot.

"Yes," I started, and then pulled the cube from my pack, "Here it is." I then held it out for Elder Lyons and his daughter to see.

"I knew that you would find it Jason. If there's one thing I've learned about you it's that once you've set your mind on something there's no stopping you from getting to it." Sarah complimented, and I thanked her with a nod.

Elder Lyon's took the cube and stroked his beard as he looked it over, "Intriguing. I'll hand this over to Doctor Li and her team can get to cracking how it will work."

Hearing him mention Madison hit me like a brick wall. I hadn't seen her in quite a long time, and I wasn't even sure if she _would_ want to see me after being gone for so long. I needed to see her though. I needed to hold her in my arms, to feel the softness of her skin…to feel the warmth of her love.

I simply nodded at Elder Lyons and then turned to face my companions. "Kirk, keep and eye one the big guy won't you? I've got some things I need to do before we start any sort of preparations." I told him, and before he could say either yes or no, I walked past him and headed off to look for Madison.

I asked around the Citadel and it didn't take long to find out that she was in her private quarters doing some research. I walked down the many halls of the residence halls until I came to the room where Madison would be.

I sighed softly, straightened my posture, and then knocked on the door. I heard some fumbling noises coming from within, and then the clicking of the door being unlocked.

I wore the biggest smile I could when Madison opened the door, and she just stood there for the longest time. Just as I was about to say something, she threw herself at me and buried her face in my chest. I placed a hand on her soft head of hair and the other on her back and kissed her forehead.

"I missed you so much." I whispered in to her ear.

She sniffled a bit and then looked up at me, "I worried every single day you were gone. I could never be quite sure if I would ever get to see your face again." she admitted before burying her face again.

She suddenly realized all of the battle scars that my armor had received and held her hand over her mouth. "What happened out…no, I think it's better I not know what you had to go through out there. I trust you found the G.E.C.K.?"

I placed my cheek against her soft hair and sighed, "I did. Now all that remains is deciphering it and figuring out how to install it and use it to its full potential. So it should be a couple of days before any preparations begin. Which gives us plenty of time to spend together."

Madison then pulled me in to her quarters and quietly shut the door behind us.


	24. Chapter 24: No Rest for the Weary

**Chapter 24: No Rest for the Weary**

The two of us kissed passionately as we made our way over to the bed. I helped her out of her lab coat and groped her buttocks while I ran my lips up and down her neck. She reached up and undid her bun and let her hair fall down around her shoulders. I busied myself with unbuttoning her blouse and she pulled the straps from my armor. I squeezed her ass even harder as her breasts came in to view.

Madison placed her hands on my back and ran her fingernails across and scratched my skin ever so slightly. I grunted in pleasure and kissed between her soft mounds. I lowered her on to the bed and ran my hand up her inner thigh, which got a few soft coos from her. My hand made its way up to her womanhood and I gently rubbed it through her underwear. She clenched the back of my head and moaned loudly.

I licked and teased her nipples while massaging her sex, and I could tell that she would lose it at any moment. Without warning, I pulled her underwear aside and plunged two fingers deep within her sacred entrance. She gasped in surprise, but soon warmed up to it. I slid my fingers in and out of her at a quick pace, and she breathed heavily through her incessant moaning. I planted another kiss on her lips and we explored each other's mouths with our tongues. The sensations were overwhelming, and Madison's moans turned in to screams of ecstasy.

Madison reared her head and arched her back as she reached her climax. Her body became relaxed and she placed a hand on my cheek. The look she gave me signified that she was ready for me. I pulled her on top of me and placed the tip of my member against her flower. She took a hold of it and rubbed it against the lips of her entrance and savored every tantalizing moment. She bit her lip and then slowly lowered herself on to my manhood. The warmth of her insides welcomed me and seemed to dissolve everything around us.

It was just me and her now. Nothing else. There was no wasteland, there was no Brotherhood, and there was no Enclave. We sat completely motionless for what seemed like an eternity before Madison finally started to grind her hips against me. I gasped at how incredible it felt. I had been gone for so long that I had forgotten how good this feels, and it only served to increase the pleasure. I placed my hands around Madison's waist and helped her buck herself against my erect member.

The speed of our movements increased with every thrust until I was pounding in and out of her like a jackhammer.

_God I love this woman so much._

With one final thrust I slammed my manhood as deep as it would go and released inside of her. Madison leaned in and gave me one last kiss before collapsing on top of me. I pulled myself out of her and gently laid her on the mattress beside me and pulled a blanket over her. She looked so beautiful and serene. I kissed her cheek and then held her in my arms as I drifted in to a deep sleep.

A knock at the door woke me from my peaceful slumber, and I couldn't help but feel a little agitated. I slipped in to my pants and hobbled over to the door. Upon opening it I was greeted by Sarah's smiling face.

"Hey, how's it going?" she asked.

"I'm good Sarah. How about you?"

Before she could answer her eyes travelled over my shoulder and settled on the woman lying in my bed.

Her cheeks darkened a bit, "Oh, I'm so sorry Jason, I didn't mean to interrupt…" she trailed off and averted her gaze from Madison.

I shook my head, "Don't worry about it. What do you need?" I asked.

She ran a finger through her dirty blonde hair, "Umm, my father wants to talk with you back in the A ring. Apparently the scientists have already deciphered the secrets of the G.E.C.K. and he's called a meeting to sort out the battle plans for taking the purifier back from the Enclave." she told me.

"What? They're already making plans!? And here I thought I was going to have a few days to just relax and not have to worry about anything else." I said more to myself than to her.

"If you're busy I can tell my father to postpone the meeting." she suggested.

"No, no, I'll be there in about ten minutes okay?" I told her, and she nodded.

She then turned down the hall and disappeared around a corner. I walked back in to the room and shut the door quietly as to not wake Madison. I threw on the rest of my armor and slipped in to my boots. I caught sight of myself in the reflection of an old, cracked mirror just before I left for the meeting. My armor had been beat to hell, and my hair had become extremely matted. I would have to remember to visit Knight Captain Durga in the armory and get my armor patched up.

I walked out in to the hall and then made my way towards the meeting place. I entered the A ring of the Citadel and Sarah was waiting for me, "Come on, it's just in here." she pointed out, and I followed behind her.

Elder Lyons and several Brotherhood Scribes were looking over Liberty Prime's blueprints.

"If we make a few adjustments to the legs here and here than he should be able to maneuver better while out in the field." One of the Scribes with short, graying hair said to Elder Lyons.

Lyon's stroked his beard, "And what about the weapons systems Rothchild, are they fully operational?" he asked.

Rothchild looked a bit unsure, "They seem to be operating at maximum capacity, but we haven't had a live field test so we can't be too sure." he advised.

"Ahem." Sarah interrupted to get their attention.

Elder Lyon's aged face lit up, "Ah! Sarah, Jason, there you are! Please, take a seat, we'll be starting shortly." he then gestured to the seats at the edge of the round table.

I spotted Kirk sitting in the corner smoking a cigarette and Fawkes stood just behind him with his arms folded. I gave them a nod and then sat down. A few more Brotherhood members walked in to the meeting room and then one of the Scribes closed and locked the door.

Elder Lyons moved to the head of the table and placed his hands behind his back, "Welcome everybody. As you have been informed, Jason here has managed to bring us a G.E.C.K. with which we can power the purifier with. The only problem is that the Enclave still has a strong hold over the memorial building and have set up a major defense against anyone who might think of charging in unannounced." he started, and then looked over at Scribe Rothchild to continue.

"Yes, well, extensive scanning of the area around the memorial reveals that the Enclave have set up plasma shields along the route leading from the Citadel, and a large barrier has been placed around the entire perimeter. Numerous outposts have been constructed around these plasma shields and each holds at least five soldiers inside. These aren't ordinary soldiers either. Scouts have reported seeing soldiers wearing strange looking black armor who wield heavy napalm launchers. It seems that the Enclave has a few aces up their sleeves. The main hindrance to our approach is of course the plasma shields, but that's where Liberty Prime comes in. You will all accompany Liberty Prime as he makes his way towards the memorial and give him cover fire. He should be able to deal with the shields and you will mop up anyone that remains. Sentinel Lyons will be leading the escort team, along with the Lone Wanderer." he explained.

I perked my ears up when I heard that last part.

_Did I hear that right? I'm going to be helping lead these men in to battle against the Enclave while following a giant robot?_

Sarah stood up beside Rothchild and he took a seat. She looked in my direction, "Jason, I hope you'll accept my offer to make you an honorary member of the Lyon's Pride. You'll be my second in command in the field and you'll have full authority to issue orders to the others." she told me.

I didn't know what to say, so I simply nodded in response.

"Excellent. I'm going to form two main assault teams that will each have distinct roles while we advance on the Enclave. Team 101 will consist of Jason, Kirk, Fawkes, and Knight Captain Gallows. You're initiative will be to hug Liberty Prime as close as possible and draw enemy fire away from him. Team Lyons will consist of myself, Paladin Vargas, Knight Captain Dusk, and Paladin Gunny. We'll offer long range support as you inch closer to the purifier and make sure to keep your asses out of harms way. You will be issued the proper weapons and armor by Knight Captain Durga in the armory. The rest of you will offer cover fire for both groups and make sure that Liberty Prime reaches that memorial." when she finished she stepped down and Elder Lyons took charge once again.

He placed one hand on the table, "Men, this may be the single greatest battle we will ever fight against any one faction in the Capitol Wasteland. Some of you might not make it back, but you're sacrifice will not be in vain. This day shall be recorded in to the annals of history as the day the people of the wastes pried the purifier away from the Enclave's tyrannical grip and secured s better future for not only themselves, but for wastelanders everywhere!!!" he shouted, and nearly everyone in the room hollered and cheered.

Lyons clenched his fist and then brought it to his chest, "This operation will be carried out at 0800 tomorrow morning. Make me proud men; and steel be with you!" and with that, everyone got out of their seats and filed out of the room.

The only ones who remained were myself, Fawkes, Kirk, Sarah, and Elder Lyons. I sat in my chair and stared blankly at the wall. Sarah looked concerned but decided not to pry. She looked at her father and he knew that they should leave. The two exited the room and left me and my companions alone.

"Everything alright kid?" Kirk questioned with his cigarette still hanging from his mouth.

I slammed my fists on to the table and sighed, "I didn't think we would have to leave again so soon. What am I supposed to say to her? 'Oh, sorry, just got word that I'm needed once again and have to run off and might not make it back'." I let my head fall on the table and closed my eyes.

"I don't know what to tell ya kid. I've never handled myself around women very well. You're on your own with this." he replied.

Fawkes remained as stoic as ever and didn't have anything to add to the conversation.

I lifted my head up off the table and leaned back in my chair. "Well, we've got preparations to make, so let's get to it. I'll meet you two at the armory…I need to talk with Madison first." I then got up out of the chair and walked out of the room.

I found Madison already awake and sitting on the edge of the bed. She held a firearm I had never seen before in her lap. She wore an emotionless expression, and I guessed that she already knew what was going on.

"So you're leaving again are you?" she asked softly.

I sat down beside her and placed my hand on hers, "The Brotherhood needs me Madison. I have to see this through to the very end. I hate having to be taken away from you every time it seems like we might be able to be together but I have a responsibility here." I explained.

She nodded and then looked in to my eyes, "I know…I think I've finally come to accept that. But here's always the chance that you might not return."

I placed my arm around her and pulled her close, "I promised you that I would come back the last time I left, and I promise you the same thing this time. I'm going to activate the purifier and come back to you so we can start a new life together after all the fighting is over."

She held the firearm up to me, "Here, I found this while scrounging through the armory. It's an antique S&W 500 Magnum. Durga had very little ammo lying around so you only have enough bullets for one clip, which gives you six." she said, and I took the gun from her and placed it on the bed. I then leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss as thanks for her gift. I checked the time on my Pip Boy and I had a spare ten minutes before I had to report to the armory. I crawled in to bed with Madison and we held each other as tightly as possible.

"I love you….so much." I whispered in to her ear.

She caressed my cheek and smiled sweetly, "And I love you, Savior of the Wastes." she then kissed my forehead and then placed her head on my chest.


	25. Chapter 25: Calm Before the Storm

Hey everyone, sorry i've been updating kinda slow, i've had college keeping me pretty busy these past few days so here's a quick update for yall. The reason this chapter is a lot shorter compared to most is because i want the assault on the enclave to be its own chapter. Hope you enjoy, and look for future updates! (Also, if you haven't already, i recommend you go look up another great Fallout story by Anhtony S called "As the World Turns". It's an amazing story with an original plot and has plenty of action and loveable characters for all to enjoy. Thanks for writing such an awesome story Anthony, cheers! )

**Chapter 25: Calm Before the Storm**

As I walked through the halls towards the armory I kept a stern expression on my face. I had holstered the S&W 500, which was more like a hand cannon than a pistol, in the bandolier strapped to my chest. It looked almost brand new, and I figured the Brotherhood must have been saving it for a special occasion. Kirk and Fawkes stood just outside the entrance to the armory.

The three of us stepped inside and were greeted by a rather cheery Durga. She wore a broad grin and waved us over, "Come one, come all and see what goodies I have in store for you!" she beckoned.

We made our way over the to counter where all sorts of armor and weaponry had been put out on display. "Ah, I see Madison got the Magnum to you. She begged and begged for me to give it to her and after a while I had no choice but to give in to her demands. You better take good care of it, it's a one in a million weapon." she advised.

"Oh I will." I replied.

"Anyways, I have some special toys for you three. Jason, I've been ordered to issue you this prototype light power armor. It weighs only half as much as the regular power armor and allows for increased mobility as well as maintaining the same amount of protection against most firearms. It is still a prototype though so it might not be as durable as regular power armor." she explained.

"Awesome, what else have you got for me?" I replied.

She eyed the magnum strapped to my chest, "Well, it seems like you're already packing in the way of firepower, and I know you still have that sawn-off and Chinese AR from last time." she said, which disappointed me a little.

"For the old man I've got a set of reinforced leather armor. The fabric has been weaved together with a Kevlar nylon mesh. It also has metal plating on the inside part of the coat to protect your vital organs. The pants have metal plates on the inside as well. Weapon wise you'll be using a Double Barrel Shotgun and an MP5 that we recovered and managed to fix up." she then handed the folded up armor and weapons to Kirk who had a look of excitement in his eyes.

Finally Durga turned to Fawkes, "The big fella gets something extra special…" she turned away and walked in to the back room of the armory. When she re-emerged she was carrying a huge minigun looking weapon. Durga heaved it up on to the counter and then pulled a large power pack from beneath the counter.

"The Gatling Laser. We only have three of these puppies lying around, and I figure your friend there is big enough to carry it around without breaking a sweat."

Fawkes reached out and strapped the power pack to his back, and then connected the wires to the end of the Gatling Laser to power it up. "This will make a fine weapon." was all he said.

"Damn Durga, saving all the good weapons for a rainy day, huh?" I asked with a smirk on my face.

"You'd be surprised at the kind of pre-war technology the Brotherhood has excavated over the years." she replied.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Well, thanks again Durga, stay safe alright?" I told her, and she nodded with a sweet smile.

We grabbed a few beers from the barracks before heading out to the courtyard. The sun had already begun to set and it cast an orange glow over the whole of the wasteland. I walked to the middle of the courtyard and sat down on the concrete. Fawkes and Kirk joined me. We didn't say much at first, though after a while Kirk finally cleared his throat to speak up.

"I uhh, I've been meaning to tell you something for a while now kid." he started with an unsure glint in his eyes.

I looked him over quizzically, "What is it?" I asked.

He placed his hand on the back of his neck and looked down at the ground, "I went and saw some of the Medics to see if they couldn't find out why my health has deteriorated so much over the past few weeks and…well…." he suddenly stopped speaking and stared off in to space.

He then looked me straight in the eyes, "They told me I've got lung cancer kid." he finally blurted out. "It's all these damn cigarettes mixed with being out in the wastes on a near constant basis."

I didn't know what to say, and besides, what could I say? All I could do was give him a slight nod.

He laughed to himself and smiled, "So I guess no matter what goes down tomorrow I'm dead either way. Of course, I might live a little longer if I survive what's in store for us tomorrow. Maybe I'll use what time I'll have left to find someplace quiet and enjoy some long deserved comfort and relaxation." When he finished talking he still smiled, but I could see that it masked how he really felt by the look in his eyes.

I smiled softly, "I think that sounds like an excellent plan Kirk."

I then looked over at Fawkes who had been silent this whole time. "And what about you Fawkes? If you make it out alive what are you going to do?"

"I think I might go out and see what has become of the rest of the United States. I read about settlements both great and small in the outlying states. Perhaps I might be able to conquer this beast that still lurks within me by making such a grand journey." he told me with a look of content shown across his face.

"What plans might you have in store if you make it out alive?" Fawkes questioned with a raised brow.

The image of a beautiful woman ran through the forefront of my mind and I couldn't help but wear a wide grin, "I'm going to marry Madison and find some place far away from here where we can raise our child properly and live out our lives without having to worry about whatever other troubles the wasteland might have." I told them through my grin.

Kirk then held up his beer bottle, "Fellas, it's been a fun ride, and I look forward to fighting by your sides in the oncoming battle tomorrow." he toasted, and then Fawkes and I tapped our bottles against his and drank to what the future held for us.

I placed the empty bottle at my feet and sighed, "Well, it's been nice talking with you guys, but I've got a woman that needs me, and I need to make sure that we get as much time possible together before tomorrow. Good night, and sleep well." I then got to my feet, bid them adieu, and headed for the residence hall.

I found Madison leaning over the railing of the balcony just outside her room which overlooked part of the wasteland. I slid my arms around her waist and pulled her close, letting my chin rest on her shoulder. She reached back and caressed my cheek and placed her other hand on my arms.

"I've never seen the wasteland this calm before." she commented as I kissed the nape of her neck.

"Maybe we're being allowed one final breath before the plunge." I replied.

I lifted the lower part of her blouse and placed my hands on the bare skin of her stomach. It had been over a month since she told me the news that we were going to be parents and yet her stomach remained mostly unchanged. Soon it would show the signs of her pregnancy and I will be there to take care of her and make sure she has everything she needs. I wondered if we would have a boy or a girl, but it didn't really matter to me.

"What do you want to name the baby if it's a girl?" Madison suddenly interrupted.

I gave it some thought, and finally my mind settled on the image of the time when I first met the Mysterious Stranger, and of the little bed & breakfast nook I had happened upon.

"Kaelyn." I said simply with a slight upward curvature of the left side of my mouth.

"And what if it's a boy?" she asked.

Only one name came to mind…the only name that had ever meant anything to me up until I had met Madison.

"James." I whispered.

Madison turned her head and glanced up at me, "I think that would be perfect." she whispered back, and then planted a soft kiss on my lips.

When she had pulled away, I pulled her in once again and kissed her passionately. A soft breeze whipped up while we were locked in a loving embrace and helped to set the mood.

I placed my forehead against hers and looked in to her deep blue eyes, "Let's go to bed, we've got a lot to do tomorrow, and we'll need all the rest we can get." I suggested, and she nodded.

I took her by the hand and she placed her head against my shoulder and the two of us walked back to our room in silence.


	26. Chapter 26: Meet Liberty Prime

**Chapter 26: Meet Liberty Prime**

The loud bang of a massive explosion awoke me from my slumber, and I rolled off the bed in my surprise. Madison sat up and looked around as the room rumbled. A few cracks ran up the walls and part of the ceiling, and bits of dust and concrete fell to the floor.

"What was that?" she asked in a daze.

I got myself up off the floor and ran to the door. I threw it open and looked out in to the hall to see a dozen Brotherhood members scurrying about. I grabbed one of them by the shoulder as he darted past.

"What's going on out here?" I questioned.

He had a frightened look in his eyes, "They're attacking! Those damned Enclave bastards are attacking the Citadel!" he shouted before prying himself from my grip and running off down the hall.

I went back in to my room and then went over to the locker where I had stored the prototype light power armor Durga had issued me and pulled it out.

"Madison, come help me put this on." I ordered, and she complied without hesitation.

She helped me slip in to the grayish armor and then handed me my helmet, which had a visor that could be adjusted to hang over my eyes or rest above them. I grabbed my weapons off of the table and put them where they needed to go. The 500 Magnum went in to the holster on the bandolier, the Sawn-Off I strapped to my thigh, and I placed the harness of the Chinese AR over my chest and let it hand from my back.

I turned to Madison and placed my hands on her shoulders, "This is it Madison, this day will determine what kind of future the Capitol Wasteland will have. Do what you can to help, but make sure you stay out of harms way alright?" She nodded and I gave her a quick hug.

"I love you, and I'll see you when it's all over okay?" I told her as a tear ran down my cheek.

"I love you too Jason, now get out there and show the Enclave why they should never have crossed you!" she yelled, and it helped put me in a fighting mood.

I left her and made my way to where the Brotherhood was storing Liberty Prime as I figured that's where most everyone would be. My instincts proved to be right and I found Sarah, all suited up and ready for battle, standing next to her father shouting orders at the soldiers and at the scientists making the final adjustments to the hulking robot.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder and a look of relief came over her, "Oh thank God you're here Jason, we could really use you right now." she said as I approached her.

"Just tell me what you need and I'll be there." I replied in a stern manner.

"The Enclave is practically at our doorstep, and I need you to take your companions and help defend the courtyard while we get Liberty Prime up and running. When he's ready, we'll send the platform up through the floor of the courtyard and wipe out any resistance that might remain." she explained, and then held a familiar looking object out to me, "Here, take the G.E.C.K. and once we've pushed the Enclave back to the purifier it'll be up to you to activate it. All you have to do is install it in a slot at the top of the main control console and enter the code 216."

I took the cube from her and placed it in my pack. "How long do you need?"

She smirked ever so slightly, "As long as you can give us."

I then turned from her and ordered a few soldiers that were just standing around to follow me up to the courtyard. A few Vertibirds flew overhead as we emerged back outside. There were around twenty or so other Brotherhood Knights and Initiates raking defensive positions and aiming their weapons at the large metal gate at the edge of the outer circle.

I spotted Fawkes standing up on a raised platform with his Gatling Laser fixed on the gate, and Kirk crouched behind a pile of sandbags with his MP5 at the ready.

"Alright men, we've been ordered to hold this courtyard until Liberty Prime has reached max power. He'll ascend through this shuttle door in the ground right here and give us the extra firepower we need to push forward! Take up your positions and don't fire until I say so!" I ordered, and everyone continued getting in to position.

I settled down near Kirk and aimed at the gate. Everything went silent, and the air was still. Then, a loud bang rang out across the silence from the front gate, and another, and another. Finally, after a few more explosions, the large steel gate blew apart and a wave of Enclave soldiers poured in. The ones at the front of the line were using Plasma Rifles while the ones in the back used the napalm launchers Sarah had told everyone about.

Giant balls of flame soared through the air and rained down on us like hell from the sky. A few Brotherhood soldiers were hit and burst in to flames. They screamed in agony as they were burned alive before finally collapsing to the ground.

"Fire now! Send these fuckers straight to hell!" I roared and everyone in the courtyard opened up on the incoming Enclave soldiers.

Red bolts erupted from Fawkes' Gatling Laser and tore the front line soldiers to shreds. Other green and red bolts flew through the air and struck against the walls, sandbags, and ground. I leaned over the sandbags and sprayed in to the crowd of soldiers and managed to take a few of them down. I took cover once again so I could reload my gun.

"Missile Launchers!" one of the Initiates shouted as three Heavy Troopers stepped through the giant hole in the gate.

The missiles whistled through the air as they made their way towards their targets. They made contact with a small group of Brotherhood soldiers and sent them flying, most of them losing limbs or being blown in half. Another struck one of the support beams holding Fawkes up and he was forced to jump down as it toppled to the ground. The last one detonated right in front of the sandbags Kirk and I were taking cover behind.

Two of the heavy trooper's suddenly crumpled to the floor as a single bullet went through each of their visors and sent their brain matter spewing out the back of their heads. I looked back and noticed Knight Captain Dusk standing on a balcony loading another bullet in to the chamber of her Sniper Rifle. The Enclave heavy trooper attempted to load another missile in to his weapon, but promptly received a bullet to the head.

Another wave of Enclave soldiers poured through the gate and Fawkes screamed at the top of his lungs as he tore through their ranks with ease. Kirk helped him by tossing a couple of frags at their feet which caused them to break in to disarray.

"Ha, these guys ain't got nothin' on us!" Kirk shouted as he gunned down the last of this wave of soldiers.

For now it seemed like there weren't any more Enclave reinforcements and so I took this time to tally how many soldiers we had lost so far.

"Status report!" I shouted to a nearby Brotherhood Knight, who came running to my side.

He saluted me, which no one had ever done before, "Sir, we've sustained heavy casualties. We've lost half of our men and a couple of them are seriously injured and need immediate medical treatment!" he informed me.

"Alright soldier, get the injured down to the medical bay and try and get some backup." I ordered, and he left in a hurry.

Kirk walked over to me with his MP5 slung over his shoulder, "How much longer till that giant scrap heap will be ready?"

I shook my head, "I don't know, but what I do know is that the Enclave will be sending more reinforcements at any moment so we need to set up closer to the back of the courtyard and strengthen our defenses."

Just then a few Sentry Bots broke through what little remained of the gate and started firing missiles at us.

"Incoming!" I shouted, and everyone dove for the nearest cover.

The missiles struck the walls at the top of the Citadel and blew chunks of debris which fell over us. Thousands of bullets flew all around us and sent large clouds of dust up in to the air.

As I was getting ready to fire on the Sentry Bots, the ground beneath me began to rumble. The loose pebbles and debris shifted across the surface of the ground, and the shuttle door at the center of the courtyard slowly began to open up.

"Weapons systems operating at maximum capacity, main power core showing 100% functionality. Uploading primary objective: Eliminate all Red Chinese Communists!" the giant robot shouted in its synthetic voice as it raised up from the ground.

The Sentry Bots turned their attention on the thirty-five foot robot and opened fire. Their bullets simply bounced off of Liberty Prime's deflective plating and caused no damage whatsoever.

The massive robot looked down on the seemingly puny Sentry Bots and said, "I am Liberty Prime, and you are trespassing on American soil." The red visor on his face then lit up and multiple blue laser beams erupted forth and blew the Sentry Bots to pieces. Giant craters were all that remained where the bots once stood.

All of the remaining Brotherhood soldiers whooped and hollered after Liberty Prime had shown off his amazing firepower.

"The Enclave don't know what's coming!" one of the Initiates shouted through his helmet.

The doors at our back were flung open and Sarah, along with the rest of the members that would form the assault teams, came rushing out.

"Now's the time to push forward men, everyone pile in behind Liberty Prime!" she ordered, and everyone formed in to their teams.

Liberty Prime put one foot forward and took the first step in our assault against the Enclave. He crashed through the walls of the Citadel and made his way out in to the wastes. A couple of Vertibirds flew over him and bombarded him with machine gun fire. Liberty Prime shot a few blue bolts at them and they erupted in to massive balls of fire and fell in to the water below.

Our first obstacle was a long bridge that led to a maze of buildings on the other side where the Enclave probably had an ambush set up. Three shield barriers were set up at different intervals atop the bridge, and they looked heavily defended. Liberty Prime turned towards the bridge and took long strides all the while shooting lasers everywhere.

When we came upon the first shield Liberty Prime took a hold of the two metal poles on either side. "Detecting plasma shielding blocking our route. Probability of mission hindrance: ZERO PERCENT!" he shouted as he tore the poles from their foundations and tossed them to the side. Bolts of electricity coursed through his metal body, but they did little else than make him look like a walking lights show.

He made his way towards the next shield while Fawkes, Kirk, Gallows and I ran in to sweep up the remaining Enclave soldiers. Most of them took cover inside the outposts they had constructed and fired blindly from within. Kirk took the Double Barrel off his back and ran forward. He jumped through the window of the outpost and unloaded in to one of the soldier's chest, and then unsheathed his machete and drove it through another's head. A single red bolt went through the window and took the last one in the small building down as he tried to attack Kirk.

I looked back and saw Sarah Lyons aiming her Laser Rifle our way. I gave her a quick wave and she let the weapon fall to her side. Kirk crawled out of the window and wiped a layer of grime from his forehead, "Hot damn kid, I haven't been this excited since I first joined up with you!" he blurted out.

"More hostiles on the way!" Fawkes pointed out, and sure enough, four more soldiers were heading our way. Knight Captain Gallows and the big guy ran forward and entrenched themselves behind what remained of the shielding's frame. Gallows remained silent and collected as he fired a few rounds from his modified Laser Rifle which shot multiple beams at once. One of the soldiers screamed at the top of his lungs as he disintegrated in to a pile of ashes from being hit by a few bolts.

Fawkes revved his Gatling Laser and sent red chunks everywhere. I looked up and saw That Liberty Prime had already destroyed the second shield and was working on the third one. We trailed behind him as fast as we could but met more resistance at the second shield's outpost.

An Enclave soldier standing atop the outpost fired a few balls of napalm at us and forced us to disperse. A sniper shot rang out and took the soldier down with little difficulty. We snuck around the back of the outpost and positioned ourselves outside the back door. I kicked it down and sprayed inwards, then fell back so Gallows and Kirk could clean up anyone I had missed.

The cycle continued at the next outpost, and we thought that as long as things went like this we would be at the purifier in no time. Liberty Prime stopped at the other end of the bridge, and Sarah's group caught up with mine and we were about to go on when Liberty Prime looked up at the sky.

"Tactical Airstrike detected!" he shouted, and we all looked up and saw the mortar shells falling from the sky.

"Run!" Sarah shouted, and we all took off in different directions.

The shells impacted a few yards away and sent everyone sprawling to the ground. Liberty Prime's left leg and arm had taken some damage, but he analyzed that it wouldn't effect his combat proficiency.

"Everyone sound off!" a recovering Sarah ordered as she strained to get herself to her feet.

Everyone had survived the airstrike, but Vargas' right leg had been blown off, and Fawkes had taken a large chunk of shrapnel in his side. He tore out the piece of metal with ease and threw it on the ground.

"I'll be fine my friend, but I'm not so sure about your other friend over there." Fawkes reassured me as he pointed to Vargas.

Sarah knelt at Vargas' side and removed his helmet. He grunted and writhed in pain as she used a piece of cloth to tighten the area around the wound to stop the bleeding. She then ordered two soldiers to help him to the medics waiting at the back of their ranks.

"Let's continue forward, Vargas will be alright." She said, and everyone turned to head out.

"Multiple communists detected up ahead. A tactical nuclear strike against the overhanging bridges between the buildings should cause maximum damage." Liberty Prime advised.

He then reached back and took a hold of one of the bombs strapped to his back and let it fly. It struck a building at our front and the bodies of Enclave soldiers that had been taking cover were sent sky high. Large piles of rubble had formed in the middle of the street below. The giant death machine then continued onward and blew away any stray soldiers that hadn't been hit by the blast while shouting anti-communist propaganda such as, "Democracy is truth, and Communism is death!" or "The Red Chinese shall be crushed under the boot of the free people."

When we rounded the corner at the bottom, something struck Liberty Prime in the chest and actually made him stumble backwards. A large dent had been made in the front of his armor plating.

"Damage sustained: minimal. Detecting multiple vehicles ahead."

After he said this, three large vehicles drove forward and took aim at him. They all fired off and blew Liberty Prime back. He crashed in to a nearby building and almost fell to the ground.

"Are those…tanks?" Knight Captain Dusk questioned to no one in particular.

"Everyone fall back!" Sarah ordered, and we all headed back for the cover of the building as the tanks advanced on us. A few more shells were fired off and blasted the corner of a building just as we rounded it.

Liberty Prime collected himself and held his right hand out towards the tanks. The palm of his hand began to glow a bright blue, and just as he made ready to fire, multiple shells struck his hand and blew it off. A few more shells struck his chest and actually tore through his armor plating. Sparks flickered from the holes in his chest and caused him to twitch a bit.

"Your death warrants have just been signed communist scum!" his synthetic voice roared as he shot a massive wave of blue bolts from his visor and wiped the tanks off the face of the Capitol Wasteland.

He then turned to us, "Power levels at 65%, right plasma cannon has been destroyed, and heavy damage has been sustained to the chest area. Self-repair systems have been activated, but it will not increase my power levels by much." he reported.

"65% is better than 0%. We still have a mission to carry out. It's a straight shot to the memorial building from here, so let's pick up the pace!" Sarah ordered, and everyone cheered.


	27. Chapter 27: Mystery Unraveled

**Chapter 27: Mystery Unraveled  
**

Everyone including Liberty Prime broke in to a sprint to make one last mad dash for the purifier. Prime destroyed everything in his path as he ran down the road leading up to the memorial building.

"Main shielding up ahead. Activating shoulder mounted air to ground missiles." Liberty Prime yelled as he approached the shields around the Jefferson Memorial. Two hidden compartments on his back opened up and four large missiles shot forth from each of them. They whistled through the air and went over the top of the shield and made contact with the generators powering them. The blue shields flickered for a moment, and then vanished altogether.

More tanks rolled out and fired on Liberty Prime, who held his left arm up to reflect the shells. However, when they made contact, electricity coursed through his system and sent him to his knees.

"EMP….shells…..power…..35%...." he barely managed to get out as he convulsed in place.

The tanks then aimed at us and fired off. One of the shells landed in the middle of our group and blew us in all directions. I slid across the ground as I landed and slammed against a wrecked car. I placed my hand over my mouth as I coughed from all the dust in the air and looked around for the others. Most had been knocked unconscious by the blast and lie motionless on the ground. I spotted Sarah writhing on the ground and moaning in pain, and Kirk had his hands placed over his face.

The tanks rolled closer and aimed their barrels right at us. Without warning, Fawkes came from within a cloud of dust and ran towards the tanks as fast as he could. They fired off, but he rolled forward and avoided the blast. They took aim again, but he was too close now to get a good shot off. He jumped up on one of them and bent the barrel backwards so it could no longer fire off. Another tank turned towards him and fired off, but Fawkes jumped away and the tank he had been standing on erupted in to a ball of flames.

He ran at the other one and placed his hands beneath the treads and used all of his strength to turn it on its side. A shell went off a few feet away from him and sent him to the ground.

"Fawkes!" I yelled out as the yellow giant attempted to get himself to his feet.

He managed to finally get himself up, but he looked like he could collapse at any moment. The last of the tanks advanced on us, and Fawkes looked over at all of the unconscious and worn out Brotherhood soldiers.

"You must get to the Purifier Jason!" he shouted back at me. He then turned to face the tank and looked back at me with a soft smile on his face.

I'll never forget the determined look he had in his eyes as he made up his mind and knew what he needed to do in order to give us a chance. With his last ounce of energy, he ran towards the tank and slammed his fist in to the tank's barrel just as it fired off.

"Fawkes! No!" I shouted as he was engulfed in a shroud of smoke and flames.

A piece of tattered clothing drifted down from the sky and landed a few feet in front of me. I used what little strength I had and crawled over to it. I took it in to my hand and read the number "87" sewn in to the fabric. I clenched it until my fingernails dug in to my palm as tears formed in my eyes.

"FAAAWWKKKEEESSS!!!" I screamed to the heavens with all of my spirit and anger.

I placed my hands over my eyes and cried aloud. Everything had gone so wrong since we started this attack. Vargas had been put out of commission, Liberty Prime had nearly been destroyed, nearly all of my comrades had been knocked out, and now the one who I was sure would make it through this alive had sacrificed himself so we could fulfill our mission.

I felt someone's hand grasp my wrist, and I looked up to see Sarah holding on to me with a look of sadness on her face. "Jason….I'm so sorry about Fawkes." she tried to console me, but it didn't help.

I placed the tattered piece of clothing in my bag and got myself to my feet. I helped Sarah up and let her lean against me for support. Someone placed a hand on my shoulder, and I looked back to see Kirk standing there.

I looked up at the memorial building and sighed, "The mission hasn't failed yet. As long as I'm still breathing I'm going to see it completed. Fawkes gave his life so we could go through with this. I won't ask you to come with me."

"We're sticking with you Jason, until the very end." Sarah replied with a worried look on her face.

"I've still got a little bit of strength left in these old bones." Kirk added through ragged breaths.

"Let's go." I said under my breath, and we all limped off towards our destination.

Enclave soldiers' bodies littered the ground past the outer edge of where the shield once stood. Liberty Prime's missile strike had done more damage than we initially thought. We made our way over to the entrance to the gift shop and headed in.

There were no soldiers patrolling around inside, and we were surprised to find no resistance waiting in the rotunda. I looked up at the purifier and ordered the other to keep watch while I headed up. I activated the terminal outside the air lock. The chamber had been unlocked but was still flooded with lethal levels of radiation.

I slammed my fist against the screen, "Damn it! How am I supposed to get the G.E.C.K. in there and activate it without succumbing to radiation poisoning?"

"Now that's a darn shame." A voice that I hadn't heard in a long time said to me. The voice belonged to someone who I believed to be dead. A voice which sent a shiver through my spine.

"Colonel Autumn…." I said through gritted teeth.

The Colonel stepped in to view from behind a pillar and stopped at the base of the ramp.

"It's nice to see you again son." The Colonel greeted with a malicious grin plastered across his face.

"How is this possible? I watched you die!" I shouted at him.

"I have my ways young man, and I don't need to divulge them to the likes of you." he said simply.

I attempted to reach for the 500 Magnum in my bandolier but the Colonel held up his finger, "Ah, ah, ah, you wouldn't want any harm to come to your friends would you?" the Colonel asked as four enclave soldiers came in to view, two of whom were holding Kirk and Sarah at gunpoint.

"What do you want Autumn." I scowled.

The Colonel laughed and then shook his head, "You know what I want. The G.E.C.K. Hand it over now and I might just let you live" he demanded with an evil grin.

"Don't give it to him Jason!" Sarah shouted, and received a blow to the side of her face.

What choice did I have? I reached in to my pack and held the cube in the palm of my hand.

Colonel Autumn held his hand out, "That's right, hand it over."

I looked up at him and stared blankly at him, "Catch." I said calmly, and then tossed the cube up in to the air.

I pulled the 500 from its holster and shot Colonel Autumn right between the eyes as he caught the cube in his hands. I then took aim at the other soldiers and put a bullet through their visors before they could even react. I felt strange…I had never done anything like that before, and I felt as if I wasn't even the one who had done it. I let the gun fall to my side and then ran over to Kirk and Sarah who were kneeling on the floor.

"Nice shootin'." Kirk commented as I helped him to his feet.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Sarah asked as she helped herself up.

I shook my head in response, but didn't say anything.

The three of us walked over to where Colonel Autumn's corpse lay and looked down on him. I knelt down and picked the G.E.C.K. up off the ground and made sure that it wasn't damaged.

The sound of clapping came from behind us, and I turned to see the Mysterious Stranger standing at the door clapping his hands. He wore a broad smirk on his face, "Well done Jason, you've done it. You've beaten the Enclave, taken the purifier back, and now you have but one more challenge to face…" he then pulled his Magnum from his coat and shot Kirk three times in the chest.

Kirk looked at me in surprise, and blood leaked from his mouth. He fell to the floor and clenched his chest as a pool of blood formed beneath him.

His eyes glazed over as he looked up at me, "Kid…" was all he could say before the life left his body.

I looked on in disbelief at the corpse of the man who had helped me so much in my quest. Then I looked at the stranger who I thought had been helping me this whole time and couldn't help but wonder why he had done this.

"I meant what I said when I told you about the hidden potential I saw in you on that fateful day, and now, it's time to see if you've learned how to harness that power." he said as he spun his magnum on his trigger finger.

"But what about everything you said about saving the wasteland, and how I was the last, best hope of humanity!? What about all the times you saved me from certain death? You mean to tell me it was all a lie?" I asked while still in disbelief.

The stranger laughed deeply, "Not entirely. I told you all of that stuff so you would be motivated to continue on whenever you were feeling down. I saved you only when there would be no hope of survival, to make sure you stayed around so one day I could test how far you've come. And your father's death, well, that's really all the motivation I knew you would need to keep going. Ever notice how as you progressed further along your journey I showed up less and less? That's because you really were getting closer to unlocking that potential." he explained.

"Who knows, maybe you are the last hope that humanity has, but hell if I care. All I care about is finding people who might just offer me a real challenge in this boring game of life." he added with a sneer on his face.

I shook my head, "So that's all this has been to you, a game!? You used my father and his death to push myself to the limit all because you wanted to see if I could best you in a gun fight?" I asked, still not sure whether or not this was really happening.

The stranger nodded, "That's right." he replied.

"You sick fuck! Good and innocent people have died over your little game!" I shouted in a fit of rage.

The stranger frowned mockingly, "Oh, boo-hoo. People die everyday out here in the wastes kid, that's just the world we live in." he then holstered his magnum and turned away from me.

"The question is, what are you going to do now? What are you going to now that you know the truth?" he said without looking at me.

His hand loomed over the opening of his trench coat, waiting for something to happen. I still held the 500 in my hand with one bullet locked in the chamber waiting to be fired.

"I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to activate this purifier and fulfill everything my father wanted for me and for the people of the wastes." I said coldly.

"Good, good." The stranger's hand loomed closer to the opening of his coat.

_Bang!_

Smoke bellowed from the end of my gun, and the stranger stood completely still with his gun in hand. He looked down and noticed the blood leaking on to his trench coat and smiled, "It seems I was right about you…" he spat, and then fell to his knees.

I suddenly felt a searing pain in my chest and looked down to see blood trickling down my armor. I stared at the stranger who was still smiling, "But maybe you still have a ways to go." he sputtered before falling flat on his face.

I fell on one knee and placed my hand on the ground. Sarah knelt beside and couldn't find anything to say. She helped em to my feet as the blood continued to pour from the gaping bullet wound in my gut.

"To the airlock…" I said through exasperated breaths.

She helped me over and I leaned against the glass door, "I don't have much time…the chamber is flooded with…high levels of radiation. Whoever goes in there…won't be coming out. And I figure…I'm a goner either way…" I said while trying to keep my breathing normal.

A few tears ran down Sarah's pale face and she gave me a quick hug, "I'm so sorry for everything that's happened today Jason." was all she could say before going over to the button that would open the airlock.

She pressed it and then threw me a small smile. I looked in to the chamber, and then back at her, "Tell Madison…I'm sorry I won't be there…to raise our child…" I said before coughing up a bit of blood.

Sarah simply nodded, and I slowly limped towards the main control console. The door slammed shut behind me, and I looked over to see Sarah press her hand against the glass.

I took the G.E.C.K. in hand and hooked it up to the console. I could already feel myself feeling achy all over, and my throat and eyes began to burn. The console powered up, and then the prompt to enter the activation code appeared on the screen. My fingers felt like they would melt off at any moment, so I quickly entered the code and then waited for it to fire up. I backed up against the glass and then slid to the floor as everything around me began to shake.

The water within the center tank of the chamber began to bubble and froth as the G.E.C.K. used its power of creation to purify the water, and then, out of nowhere, a bright white light erupted from the base of the tank and shot upwards. The light filled the chamber and made it impossible to see. I held my hand out in front of me as I began to slip out of consciousness. I began to feel extremely cold, and I could feel death's icy fingers creep over me.

And then suddenly, there they were. A man and a woman standing hand in hand holding their hands out to me with warm smiles on their faces. "Come on son, let's go home." the woman said to me, and I held my hand out and felt one last tear run down my cheek and drip from my chin.

_Mom_

_Dad_

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unfortunately, with all good stories, they must eventually come to an end. I hope i wrote this last chapter right and didn't disappoint any of you. Tell me what you think about it and be as perfectly honest as you can. It was really hard to write this chapter because i really wanted to show the Mysterious Stranger as really being just as fucked up as the rest of the evil doers of the wasteland and having no moral backlashes about doing something like using someone just to please himself and his messed up outlook on life.

Well, i guess i'll just end by saying thanks to all my readers and an even bigger thanks to the people who took the time to review my story! Look forward to more fallout stories from me, i'm working with another idea i have and it will be a completely original plot and story with an original main character.


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